4th Wish (3 page)

I half-expected her to remain silent, really. Or even to deny it, but she didn't.

"That's precisely what he did,” she said. “He thought I'd have to grant him three more wishes."

"But that's not the way things work, is it?"

"No. I tried very hard to convince him of that before he wished me back into the bottle, but...” her words trailed away.

"What happened? Why didn't he let you out again?"

After a few long moments, Jaline said, “He became afraid that I would kill him for reconfining me.” Pausing for a heartbeat or so, she added, “He was wrong. I'd have killed him for what he made me do to his people."

Considering her words and tone for a moment, I said, “That probably means he did something that left some kind of a mark in history. Who was he?"

"His name was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin. Nicolai, to the gullible fools who believed they were his friends. He found my bottle in a cave when he and three of his followers sought refuge from the Tsar's men."

In minor amazement, I muttered, “
Well, Holy Shit, Batman!
He's the guy who barfed up the Russian Revolution and made a third of the world Communist.
That's
why 1917 had such a familiar ring.” Turning to Jaline, I asked, “You're saying he made you make that happen?"

She nodded. “Yes, through the manipulation of the minds of a great many other people. That's why I so poorly received your question about a wish for world peace. He used similar words quite often."

I shook my head. “Yeah, I've heard some of that rhetoric. Most of it was pretty lame, but there are still people who parrot it and believe in it.” After a moment, I said, “But I'd just like to see people to be able to get along with each other for a change, Jaline; to learn some real global management skills, to get rid of their stupidities, and to stop blowing each other up."

"Exactly how would you like me to accomplish that goal, Ed? How would
you
have me
'adjust'
humanity to that end?"

With a grin, I said, “Um. Yeah. Good question. Tell ya what; maybe we'll come back to that idea some other time. You sound as if you actually care what happens to people. Why?"

"I don't wish humanity any harm. Does that surprise you?"

"Maybe a little. After being locked up for a while, a lot of people would turn mean—a poor comparison, maybe, since you aren't human—and with your kind of power ... Huh. Never mind. A lot of people get like that without being locked up."

The trash bag jostled as Jaline said rather dryly, “I've noticed that, too,” and her Creamsicle wrapper and tea can appeared in the bag.

As I made the turn onto Northcliffe Boulevard, I asked, “How did you come to be locked in a jug in the first place? Or on Earth, for that matter? Was it a vacation that didn't work out well? Did you piss someone off to get sent here?"

With a sigh, she said, “I can't tell you those things, Ed."

"Thought you might say that. Jaline, I have to be able to trust you, at least a little. I want to know why you're here on Earth and how you came to be here before I turn something as powerful as you loose on the world. I won't wish you back into that bottle if you don't tell me, but like I said, it could be a damned long time before you get any wishes out of me."

She sat silent the full three minutes to Commodore Avenue and my driveway. Selena's blue Ford was parked on the swale in front of my house. I pointed at it and said, “Selena's here. Pretend you don't exist until she's gone, okay?"

"You've already instructed me about her and I agreed."

"Yeah, but I just want to be sure. She's one of the nicer people I've known and I don't want her last days with me to turn sour. Um ... Does your sticking around mean that we won't have any privacy?"

"I need only be where I can be summoned conveniently."

"So ... Okay, I guess. Remember how I knew you were behind me on the sidewalk at the restaurant? I'll probably know if you're in the room, too."

"You sound very sure of that."

"Lots of practice, ma'am. Experiences in nasty places. Yes, I'm fairly sure of it."

A thought occurred to me and I asked, “Is sticking so close to me just a means of pressuring me to hurry up and make the wishes? I have a feeling you could be on the other side of the world and hear me if I called you."

With rich, soft laughter, she said, “Yes. I could."

"Then how about going sightseeing for a few days, ma'am? Go see what's new in the world since 1917. Something like that. I won't disappear in the next three days. Besides, I think you could probably find me if I did."

"If something happened to you during my absence, I'd be unable to fulfill my debt."

"If something happened to me, the debt would end."

"No, it wouldn't. I'd be trapped here."

Unable to think of a counter to that, I muttered, “Well, that really sucks."

"What?"

"Just an expression. I think it's unfair. If I die, why should you be stuck here?"

Sighing, she said, “It's the way of things."

Selena's face appeared in my kitchen window. She undoubtedly wondered why I hadn't gotten out of the car and I didn't want her to see me talking to thin air, so I said, “Oops. Gotta go now,” and got out of the car.

At the door I glanced back at the car and saw exactly what I'd expected; nothing. Selena opened the front door and I went in. She pulled me into a hug and a kiss as usual, but I realized something was amiss. No cats surrounded our ankles. I looked in the kitchen and saw all three cats with their noses to the window screen, vastly interested in whatever was outside. Following their unwavering gazes, I realized they weren't watching a lizard; their faces were focused on apparently nothing at a spot more than five feet above the front porch. Moocher stood up and preened as he always did when someone new was around.

"Ed?” asked Selena.

"Yes'm? I was just wondering what they were staring at."

She looked where I had and said, “There's nothing out there. Cats just like to mess with our heads now and then."

Kissing her again, I asked, “Did you decide to skip your going-away party tonight?"

"Cathy rescheduled it for this afternoon to surprise me. I hate surprises. When I got wind of it I went home around noon, caught her in the act, and turned it into a pizza party.” Hugging me again, she said, “I slipped out at four. I wanted to be here.” With a little grin, she added, “I do hope I haven't inconvenienced you, sir."

"Oh, not at all, milady. I thought you might pull something like this, so I tossed my other four girlfriends out before three, just in case."

She laughed, “Good thinking,” pointed at two pizza boxes on the stove, and said, “Dinner is served."

We attacked the pizza and washed it down with Ice House beer at the kitchen table. Both of us noticed that the cats seemed very interested in an area by the kitchen sink and Selena speculated there must be something in the cabinet.

When Selena went to the bathroom, I whispered, “Jaline."

From somewhere by the sink came her quiet, “Yes?"

"Grab a beer and some pizza and take it to the back porch if you want."

"Oh, are you feeling sorry for me now?"

"No, but I'm feeling somewhat guilty because I can't invite you to join us."

She snickered softly. “At least you're honest about it.” With a wistful tone to her voice, she said, “I'd
love
to be included, even in such a very
modest
way, but..."

I sighed and said, “Oh, hell, lady. Just do it or don't. All you'll miss is pizza and beer, and they'll be available later."

She didn't even open the fridge door. I heard the muffled clink of bottles inside the fridge, then the soft hiss of a bottle opening a couple of feet away. A bottle cap landed in the trash and two of the pizza slices disappeared, then all the cats traveled in a loose cluster to the sliding glass porch doors, which opened slightly for them and closed after them.

Some moments later, Selena returned and asked, “I thought I heard the porch doors. Did you go out?"

"Nope. They did.” I thumbed at the cats nibbling pizza bits on the porch table.

Selena sat down and went back to work on her own pizza. Out of sight was out of mind; the topic of conversation shifted from my cats to other things fairly quickly.

Dinner. Drinks. Talk. Dancing in the living room to the kinds of music that allow you to hold your partner in your arms. Long showers with lots of soap and play. The bedroom. Sadness about soon being so far apart. Gladness to have the whole weekend before she had to leave. Promises to visit each other on long weekends and call frequently.

In other words, just like all the other times. Anna, Kim, Beverly, Brenda. Marsha, Susan, Linda ... I had no illusions; the calls and visits would decrease over time and finally cease. She'd find a guy in Tallahassee and I'd find a woman a bit closer to home. With only a few small variations, the fond reenactment continued until sleep overcame us.

Odd, soft noises from the living room woke me around four in the morning. I went quietly out there and looked around in the dim glow from the night-lights. At first I saw nothing, then I noticed the third volume of my ten-year-old encyclopedia floating open before the bookcase. I left Jaline to her reading and went back to bed.

Monday morning arrived much too soon. I made us a fairly elaborate late breakfast, then we postponed Selena's departure by two more hours with another visit to the bedroom and a last shower together. It seemed to me that an era of goodness had ended when Selena tearfully drove away.

"Ed,” said Jaline from perhaps two feet to my left.

I looked that direction and thankfully saw nothing. “Hi, Jaline. She's gone, but please stay invisible outside the house for now. The neighbors can be pretty nosy."

"A woman who truly loved you wouldn't leave you, Ed. Not for any reason."

Turning to go back into the house, I said, “She would if she found herself needing children more than me, Jaline."

"But if you wished it, you could be healed..."

With a horrified look, I stepped back and said, “
Whoa! Hell
, no, lady! Don't even think about it. I paid good money to get fixed in ‘71, and that was back when the dollar was still worth something. I've been real happy as a practice toy."

Her gaze narrowed at my tone and words. She said, “It is written that a man who has no children has no future."

"Yeah? At my age, the future is a helluva lot less important than it used to be. C'mon, let's go back inside and start talking about your situation."

Jaline's tone was kind of sharp as she asked, “
My
situation? You said that as if it wasn't also
your
situation, Ed."

"Hm. So I did. Well, ma'am,
you're
the one who said she'll be trapped here if I die. Same if I don't make three wishes, I figure. Since I got by without wishes before I found you, I could probably keep on getting by without ‘em, so I'd say if anyone here has a ‘situation', it's you. Let's go in, get some coffee, and see what we can do to solve
your
problem."

A small grey cloud formed some ten feet above the ground. As it quickly grew to about six feet in diameter, it turned very dark and lightning laced it with actinic flashes.

Heading for the house, I said, “Cute trick, but it won't help to get all fuzzed up, ma'am. My first wish
could
be that you couldn't ever directly harm or harass me or anyone else—or indirectly cause me or anyone else to be harmed or harassed—in any manner whatsoever. How do you like your coffee?"

She didn't answer as I held the door for her. When I turned around from closing it, Jaline stood in the kitchen. She glanced at the table, and—without so much as a blink—a rather elaborate silver samovar on a tray popped into being. One of the tiny cups turned rightside up and became steamingly full.

Sitting at the table and picking up the cup, she said, “
This
is how I like my coffee."

Admiring the samovar, I replied, “Very nice. Is that the Arabic stuff that's stronger than French espresso?"

"Of course."

"Well, no offense, then, but I'll make my own. I like bigger cups and I've gotten used to instant coffee.” My last two words struck me funny and I laughed shortly.

Jaline's gaze narrowed at me.

"
Instant
coffee,” I said, indicating her samovar. “You just gave me a whole new meaning for the term."

In a flat, cool tone, she said, “Oh. I see."

Sighing as I spun the lid off my coffee jar, I tapped some coffee into my mug and said, “We're here to talk about
fixing
things, milady. You want me to go find something else to do until you're in a better mood?"

Also sighing, Jaline rested her chin in a palm and said, “No, I suppose not."

"Then let's get down to it. Will providing me wealth in any form cost you anything in any way? Energy or whatever it is you run on?"

"No. Magic is like an unending river to those who can use it."

Perhaps sensing the change in Jaline's mood, the cats began to appear. Winston cautiously entered the kitchen, then Charlie followed her.

As they investigated Jaline in her visible form, I asked, “Could I be made able to use magic?"

Shaking her head as she stroked the cats, Jaline said, “That is not allowed."

"Well, damn. Okay, onward, then. If I asked you to supply me with fifty pounds of raw diamonds—each diamond of a size and type that could be cut into a flawless, one-carat finished stone according to existing standards—could you do it?"

She nodded as she smiled slightly and said, “Of course."

"They wouldn't disappear or turn into something else or wind up out of my reach when I let you go, would they?"

Jaline snickered and said, “No."

Grinning back, I said, “Had to ask, ma'am. Would you create them yourself or dig them out of the ground?"

Moocher came in for a share of attention as she said, “Whichever you wish."

"I think I'd prefer that you create them yourself."

"Are the diamonds your first wish?"

"Nope. They'll be my second wish."

Her eyebrow went up. “What's your first?"