The Jinn Made Me Do It

I keep the heavy vintage lamp by my bedside in case I have a late-night craving. When I get stuck in an argument online, the Jinn who lives inside would tell me the clever things to say. When I have a growl in my belly, the genie satisfies my guilty pleasure with high-fat, expensive comfort food. I also ask my Jinn for a bit of confidence, a small dose to numb life's awkward experiences and make them more euphoric and easier to endure.

“Wakey-Wake-aaay!” I yelled as I rubbed the polished spot on the antique lamp.

“Ahoy-hoy?” she whispered from the spout, unfurling smoke in the still air of my bedroom. “I was wondering what took you so long to cave in.”

“I think I’m feeling a little down and need a pick-me-up.”

The lamp began to hum gently before the rattling became louder, and it released a thick purple fog that bubbled from its stout into my room, then spun like a miniature vortex before evaporating, leaving a shadow in its place. My Jinn was a darkened shadow reflection of me, down to the hairstyle and clothes, a mimic.

“Of course you need me; I’ve become accustomed to your habits already.”

“And what are those?” I asked, having a guilty feeling she’d read me right.

“It’s Friday. You know. You get a bit of the FOMO. It’s okay. Everybody does.”

You just have the convenience of having me around. So go on with it. Just say the magic words, Boss-girl. There’s no shame in this room. Let us turn that pout into a radiant smile, big and bright.

I had always been suspicious of how eager it was to grant my wishes. I always wondered how many souls my Jinn had taken over her lifetime from the overbearing cravings people get. I wonder how long it took the proprietor to overfill on too much, too fast. We’re all just a little gluttonous in the end, trying to fill an insatiable bottomless void.

“Let’s make you look cute.” She said, sitting on the edge of my TV. She materialized a mirror on the ceiling. I stared up and saw myself in my pajamas. “How about wider hips and a BBL?” She raised an eyebrow as she showed me an altered reflection of myself.

I sneered. “Hell no!”

“How would you like a nice leather purse then, worth $15,000, crocodile embossed calf-leather? A trip to Switzerland, where beauty knows no limits! We can have a tall, skinny Irishman with the thickest accent run into you while you’re shopping! Do you want to be popular in a club tonight, and your exclusive entry on the VIP list is only one wish away!”

“Leave me alone,” I mumbled, and I crossed my arms, feeling the patronizing tone.

“Gabby. Quit acting so meek right now.” She pestered.

“Meek? Really?” I said, leaning my face on my palm. “Go back in your lamp.”

“Gabby, my pearl, my treasure, you remember the terms of my wishes. You wished for 1,000 wishes when we first met. Now you’re stuck with me. You’re 856 left to go, sister. Just wish for something spontaneous! Live in the moment! Quit being uh-“

“I wish for a nice Friday evening. Surprise me!” I shouted.

The genie grabbed my phone and typed into it for a moment. 855 left to go. She nodded. Brace yourself for tomorrow. You have a bitchin’ weekend to look forward to.”

I rolled my eyes and fell back to sleep.

***************************************

The next morning, I woke up in a sweat-filled panic, realizing what I had done. I couldn’t believe I solicited a wish so careless and so ambiguous without the terms specified. This could really backfire on me. Because the Jinn was a slave to me by default, I felt her grin always hid a glimpse of concealed scorn. I felt her wishes would come with an exchange somewhere.

I went to work restocking supplies in retail and could feel the genie watching me throughout the day. In the morning, when I made coffee in the break room, she had manifested in my mug. The Jinn would be three inches tall, swirling around in caffeinated liquid as if she were lounging in a hot tub.

“Woohoo!” she’d yell in high-pitched screams as coffee dispersed down onto her raven head like a miniature waterfall. Then she’d disappear.

After my shift, I was able to relax a bit. She’d love to startle me. After lounging around in the room, the moment I’d get up to open the fridge for a snack, her overbearing grin plastered on a milk carton startled me. She maneuvered herself from inside the fridge and launched herself onto my mattress. This time, her expression told me she was pleased with herself. “And now it’s time to party like a rock star!”

“Why have you been spying on me all day? Outside of the lamp, without me rubbing it? Why haven’t you told me what I’m in store for tomorrow night?”

“You know how this works, Gabby; she shakes her head and wiggles her finger. Yet you seem to forget every time. The rubbing of the lamp is just a stupid formality. I can manifest myself anywhere I’d like because you still have all your wishes unfulfilled. You’re the one who wished for that many wishes, remember?”

I sighed. “Where are we going now?” I muttered. Feeling helpless, I collapsed onto my warm mattress and waited for her to say something.

She tapped me on the shoulder with her stretched-out limb and gestured for me to check the phone. I glanced at it, and the event ticketing app is open.

“A KPOP Concert!?” I stood up excitedly. “You’re serious right now?!”

“Yes!” she smiled. “I knew you’d like it!”

“You’re kidding?” One of my favorite music groups, which I had been infatuated with, was on a U.S. Tour!

That’s right, she said, nodding. My jinn had disturbed me from that smile; it grew more elongated the more excited she got, and sometimes it protruded from her face completely. “So you get there in two hours.”

I shrugged, “I wish I had something to wear.” I mumbled. “Maybe I’ll just stay comfy”. I felt something tickle my nose and closed my eyes to sneeze, and when I opened them, I had already been showered, perfumed with my makeup done the way I liked it, and my hair was dyed from brunette to a dirty blonde. I had transformed into someone chic and fashionable. I looked down at my wardrobe, and I was sporting a vibrant well fitted denim jacket with a fresh olive band shirt and well-fitted skirt, and leather black boots. “This is something else.”, I said, posing by the mirror in the room. I pursed my mouth crookedly. “I don’t know though, if this feels like me.”

She cackled. “Don’t be so insecure, you’re going to stand out.”

“I hate going to these things alone, I don’t have friends who are into Korean pop music like I am…” I shrugged. “I might need 'uno mas' pick-me-up”, I admitted.

“Do you wish for some confidence?”

“I do,” I said.

She snapped her finger, and it possessed me into getting out of the house, shutting down the nerves. I felt a little bit of weightlessness and sociability. I was excited now, thinking about the pop band singing my favorite songs, and how many friends I would make. Maybe I’ll wish for a quick meet and greet after the concert if I’m feeling bold.

The jinn clapped her hands and teleported me into an empty shuttle near my city.

“Why not send me to the venue directly?” I whispered.

“It's part of the fun, you need the full experience.” She said.

As I waited for a few minutes, I watched as a crowd of people came scurrying in, and a security guard followed behind with a scanner. “Oh, didn’t think anyone was in here.” He said. He verified my ticket and moved onto the next energetic person, romantic couples, and pairs of friends, all chatting about the members of the pop group they were going to see, they were all wearing the band merch and the special beaded bracelets from the fan clubs.

I am sitting alone, staring out of the window when I spot the Jinn outside. She chased after the bus as it started to gain momentum. She is entertaining me by swinging on the street lights, hopping from one car to another, and grinding on the median barriers of the freeways as if she was rollerblading.

My loneliness made me ponder what led me to a life where I’m relying on the jinn for help in every social outing. I’ve grown too accustomed to her, my poisonous friend. It’s almost as if she understands my insecurities because she calls for me to cure the discomfort. I start to grin when I see her sitting on a middle-aged man’s lap with her arm around him, making funny faces, beckoning a reaction from me. The man sat unaware of her presence. She is a figure only I could see.

The Jinn pointed down to my lap, where my phone had rested, and I glanced down. The notepad app had already been open, and she had written down something for me.

“Need another pick me up?” she wrote with winking face emojis.

I accepted. I typed. “Yes.” Regretfully, just a bit more before the concert begins.

When I finally get to the venue, I see everyone having fun and get the itch again to ask for her help. How can I feel so lonely in a crowd of thousands of people all with the same interest as me? People watching could only get you so far until your body begins to melt down into the concrete, and you want to disappear.

“Hot dog! Hot dog! Get ‘em, while it’s hot!” The jinn called out. She is wearing the venue’s security uniform and calling me across the aisles. Her skin is still immersed in shadows, so it always catches me by surprise, seeing only the clothing moving by itself. The only thing that stands out is her eerie gaze and her smile. “Just $10.99 and that dawg comes with special properties,” She said. “For one wish, you get to eat a snacky-snack laced with a pick-me-up, two-for-one special. Take it or leave it.”

“I wish for wh-whatever is in your hand,” I said hiccuping, snatching it away and devouring it. Then the flush comes through my face in an instant. I suddenly felt the urge to dance!

I know the wish is in full effect when I can attempt a double reverse spin in public without caring if anyone around me is watching. I lost my step and tumbled onto someone else and began to laugh uncontrollably. Then, I hear the opening dance group start to sing.

I rushed it! In the concert seats, everyone is standing up and dancing to the catchy pop music, while the group is on stage doing a performance of a lifetime.

The Jinn is working her best outdated dance moves on stage, waving her fingers like a wave across her face. She is swaying across the floor and then snapping her fingers and sliding through each seat until she appears from thin air beside me. I am hollering at the sight.

The last thing I remember is the encore.

The night eventually ended, but I couldn’t pinpoint when.

The next morning, I woke up with my muscles aching and a horrible throbbing headache that made me want to kill myself. I’m left with a few nice memories but regrets. I have a gash on my arm, possibly from falling down on the concrete stairs. I vaguely remember when it happened. I have an embarrassing photo on my phone of a selfie with a K-pop idol, a memory I had misplaced and forgotten. Why did I let something as pitiful as a Jinn take over my body with her spells? I tossed the lamp across my room, and it tumbled on the ground. The Jinn had already been outside of her metallic encampment. She lay down in her underwear, pretending to sleep with the same stupid smirk on her face. She knew she would always be there unwaveringly, available with my 849 more wishes, but 849 more opportunities to lose control, 849 more ways of an addiction to her, my jinn who gives me little moments of happiness in exchange for her one wish and the delight of watching me in pain. It’s something like balancing a ledger for her.

I think back at the moment I discovered her in a pawn shop on my 21st Birthday, seeing my reflection in the stained glass it was encased in. Discovering the lamp was singlehandedly the greatest and worse day of my life, it was too much power and responsibility offered to me for a cheaply price no more than a carton of eggs.