Becoming Jinn Read online

  “Green tea soy latte.” A hand slaps the wood counter. “And make it snappy.”

  I pop up and smack my head against the shelf behind me. “Sorry, we don’t have—” My dizzy eyes focus on the customer in front of me.

  Yasmin.

  What is she doing here?

  She raps her talisman-wearing knuckles against the counter. “I’m waiting. Or do I have to make one myself?”

  A mother and daughter get in line behind Yasmin. She turns and tips her black, cowboy-style beach hat at them. “This may take a while.”

  Then she starts whistling. A theme song. The theme song to that silly old TV show that just happens to have a version of the word “genie” in the title. Has Yasmin always been this brazen or has something changed in the past year she’s been a Jinn?

  Her whistling gets louder. I don’t need this today. I send her daggers with my eyes before yanking a cup from the stack. I’ve never had green tea or soy milk. But I’ve had green beans and tofu.

  I conjure a steaming cup of the disgusting concoction and place it on the counter in front of her. “Here you go, Miss.”

  The smell makes everyone step back. The mother takes her daughter’s hand and whispers, “Let’s just get something from the vending machine.”

  Yasmin’s glaring at me, but my eyes search for Henry. Him returning now is a complication I’m desperate to avoid. But when I find him, he’s already hanging back, watching Hana bound down the ramp of the women’s bathhouse. I haven’t told him the true identity of my “cousins,” but from the way he nods slightly, I’m guessing he’s figured it out.

  Hand over her mouth, Hana zigzags through the picnic tables and stops directly across from me. The wide brim of her sun hat flops up and down as she addresses Yasmin. “I told you I’d meet you on the beach.”

  Yasmin flicks her wrist in my direction. “But it would’ve been rude not to say hello to Azra.”

  With a wince, Hana faces me. “I didn’t ask if she wanted to come help with the you-know-what. I … I just figured why not make a beach day out of the trip here? Since you’d be working and she was over when you called…”

  Yasmin waves both hands and a different set of colored bangles clanks against one another. “She’s still right here.”

  “It’s fine,” I say to Hana brusquely, even though it’s so not. But the sooner they leave, the sooner I can get Henry back here. “Besides, I’m already done.”

  “Oh, am I that late? I knew—”

  “No. Zoe wasn’t feeling well. She was leaving early so I just went for it.”

  Hana lays a hand on my forearm. “It went well, then?”

  The warmth of her voice pulls me to forgive her for bringing Yasmin. The same way the feel of her skin against mine makes me consider asking for her help with Henry. But she’s only been doing this a couple of months longer than I have.

  My peripheral vision catches a yawn from a bored-looking Yasmin, who’s been granting wishes for a year but who also slammed the door in Henry’s face and stole Lisa’s cat. No, I refuse to ask for Yasmin’s help. But maybe if I can get Hana alone …

  At the edge of the facilities area, Mina and Farrah emerge from the dune-lined path. The physical linking of their arms as they stroll toward us speaks to how close they are. That they’re here too with Hana and Yasmin speaks to how close all of them are. Much more than I realized.

  That weight from my head settles smack in the middle of my chest. My birthday party may have brought us closer, but that doesn’t change the fact that if we were in school together, they would all be on Chelsea’s cheerleading squad and I wouldn’t even know there was a game.

  There’s no way Hana would keep this a secret from our Zar sisters. She’s too loyal to them. Unlike Henry, who’s patiently waiting, hands folded in front of his stomach, mouth shut tight, knowing without me having to tell him that he should keep his distance.

  With a hop in her final step, Farrah lands in front of me. “You look super cute in your uniform, Azra.”

  Mina slides her cat-eyed sunglasses to the top of her head. Today’s eyeliner is a subtler blue, a perfect match for the ocean. As she picks a leaf out of Farrah’s long bangs, she says, “Woods. Good for concealing our arrival—”

  “But swarming with mosquitos,” Farrah finishes, scratching her ankles. She then gets a whiff of my mock green tea soy latte. “What’s this?” She brings it to her lips.

  “Don’t!” I say, but she’s already licking green goo off the corner of her mouth.

  “Oh, soup. Not bad.” She passes it to Mina, who wrinkles her nose and pushes it away.

  Farrah shrugs and is about to take another sip when Yasmin plucks it out of her hand and sets it on the far end of the counter. “I assume we’re all set up on the beach?”

  The sun glints off of the crystal headband in Farrah’s hair as she nods. “Should be by now. I promised this albino boy he could rub suntan lotion on Mina’s back if he carried our stuff to a less busy spot.”

  Rolling her eyes, Mina says, “What she thought was an albino boy. I had to point out four more just like him to convince her it’s just that your Massachusetts boys are a pale lot.”

  “Like porcelain dolls,” Farrah says. “Ooh, like that cute one over there.” She points to Henry.

  “Mmm,” Mina says, “but not like that tanned Adonis over there.” She points to Nate.

  Hana lifts the brim of her hat. “Wait, that’s your boyfriend, isn’t it, Azra?”

  My head feels like the ball in a tennis match. “No. Which? No, no, neither.”

  Just when I think nothing can fluster me more, Yasmin’s face looks weird. It’s not until I hear what, if coming out of anyone else’s lips, I’d call sincerity that I realize it’s just her face without its coating of smug.

  “Be careful, Azra,” she says. “Don’t forget they’re humans. Don’t forget what that means.” She then conjures a small piece of paper and places it on the counter. “My new number.” She morphs back into herself. “You know, when, I mean if, you ever need tips.”

  Great. Another jinx.

  Yasmin then claps her hands together. “Come on, Sisters, let’s get on the beach before the sand erodes. Azra doesn’t need us.”

  Like on my birthday, this hovers between a threat and a statement.

  “Wait,” Farrah says, pulling something out of her beach bag. She places a homemade CD on the counter with the words “Drunken Toad” written in her rounded, swirly handwriting. “This way you can learn the lyrics before tonight.”

  “Tonight?” I ask.

  Hana’s high cheekbones flush. “I didn’t get a chance to ask yet.” She side eyes Yasmin. “I … I got distracted.” Her red hair spills out around her freckled shoulders as she removes her hat and meets my eye. “But we’d love for you to come with us tonight.”

  Mina nods with her usual enthusiasm. “Yeah, for sure. It’s a last-minute surprise show thing. I’m making us VIP passes.”

  I hold the CD in one hand. Were they really planning to invite me?

  Doesn’t matter, because I can’t go. Tonight … I have other plans.

  “I can’t tonight,” I say, looking past them.

  Yasmin follows my line of sight that ends at Henry. She shoves her black-tinted sunglasses on her narrow nose and nabs Farrah, whose energetic good-bye wave I can’t help but return.

  “Another time,” Hana says, to which Mina adds, “We’ll check our calendar and be in touch.”

  Our calendar. As if they move as one.

  And they do.

  My four Zar sisters parade down the path to the beach like it’s a catwalk. What I thought were individual mismatched bikinis actually add up to a whole. Hana’s polka-dot top matches Farrah’s dotted behind. Mina’s red hipster matches Farrah’s top. Yasmin’s overflowing yellow halter matches Hana’s toned bottom. Mina’s black strapless matches Yasmin’s black boy shorts. And underneath my beige shirt and white shorts I’m wearing a one-piece.

  “You
okay, Azra?”

  The concern in Henry’s eyes as he quietly slips back through the door makes me cling to the devil in my pocket. The gate key.

  Suddenly what I should do is no match for what I want to do.

  17

  I’m alone with Henry in his backyard.

  “One more?” he says.

  “Just one.” I drag my toe along the surface of the water in the Carwyns’ pool. I’ve resisted the urge to heat it.

  “And it’s really just the one wish?” He runs his hand through his hair. “Not three?”

  In response to my nod, Henry takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. It is at this moment that I wonder if the weight that lifted from my shoulders upon sharing my secret with Henry found a home on his.

  He slides his glasses back on. “Even so. That’s what I want.”

  And that is how I wind up using my third and final practice ritual to grant Lisa’s wish to be rid of her stutter. In this case, being invested wasn’t a problem. Because his wish was also hers.

  * * *

  I should … I will … I am … I am going to confess to my mother.

  But not today.

  When Mr. Carwyn came outside to ask Henry to babysit Lisa and saw the two of us together, tears snuck into his eyes. The same way they filled mine when Henry and I heard Lisa speak without a hint of a stutter for the first time.

  After their father left, Henry was reading to Lisa. He prompted her to try a page. Lip trembling, she looked at me and hesitated.

  “Remember what your therapist taught you and go slowly,” Henry said.

  The mix of astonishment and pride on Lisa’s face when she read the page out loud made my heart stop.

  “It worked, Henry! Just like Ms. Denise said!”

  Barely holding back his own tears, Henry hugged Lisa and immediately began to cover for me. “Well, we’ve been working hard this summer, haven’t we? Doing all Ms. Denise told us to do. Now, don’t forget, she said it might take time. So don’t worry if it comes back, okay? We’ll just work even harder.”

  Lisa vigorously shook her head. “It’s gone. I believed. Just like with Tinker Bell.”

  Tinker Bell or a genie. In that moment, I was okay with being either, but proud, and maybe even the tiniest bit grateful, to be the latter.

  And that is why today has simply been for floating on a raft in the Carwyns’ pool, for getting to know Lisa, and for opening the door and finally letting Henry in.

  From my yellow-and-blue inflatable boat, I watch Henry finish wrapping a waterlogged Lisa in a towel. She curls up on the lounger, clutches her book, and begins to read aloud to herself.

  Henry dives back into the pool, rocking my plastic boat as he swims underneath me.

  He pokes his head above the water and, with a Cheshire cat grin, says, “Leprechauns?”

  “Nope.” I inch away from the water dripping off his unruly mop as he rests his forearms on the side of my raft.

  “Mermaids?”

  “Please.”

  He groans. “Don’t tell me vampires exist.”

  “Not as far as I know. But what’s wrong with vampires?”

  Henry squints and issues a decent brooding stare. “They’re leeches. I’ll never understand what you girls see in them.” He widens his eyes. “Wait, you are a girl, aren’t you?”

  “A Jinn girl.”

  “Which means?”

  “Same but not. Different species.”

  “Really?” He shakes his head and chlorinated water flies at my nose. “Like snakes or baboons? Wild.”

  Laughing, I shove him off my boat with so much force I end up capsizing myself.

  Henry’s string of questions is so long, I’m convinced he spent all morning preparing them. No one could have this many questions about magical creatures off the top of their head. He thinks being Jinn means I’m plugged into some supernatural hot line.

  As I flutter kick my way to the stairs, I realize the high I’m riding must be at least partially due to the effects of invoking the circulus with Lisa. I didn’t recognize it at first because I didn’t feel much (aside from panic) after granting Zoe’s wish. But the pureness of Lisa’s spirit has made me all giggly. Me and giggly are usually more oil and water than chocolate and peanut butter.

  Enveloping myself in a beach towel, I place another one over Lisa, who’s fallen asleep, tired out from us double-teaming Henry all afternoon. Not wanting to wake her, I sit in a chair at the opposite end of the pool. The jig is up about my birthday night makeover so I go ahead and pull out my ponytail holder and use my dark purple nails to untangle the knots in my long hair.

  Leaving his own trail of wet footprints on the decking next to mine, Henry plops down across from me. “I knew there was something different about you that night.”

  Just like a boy to focus on a girl’s looks.

  “You exuded this … this confidence,” he says.

  Just like Henry to not be a normal boy. He’s so honest it scares me a little—and not because I think he’d out me. Because my entire life has been one of deception. Being open feels wrong. How’s that for a warped lesson to have learned?

  “I should probably go,” I say even though it’s the last thing I want to do. Going home, thinking about what I have to do at home, erases the joy of Lisa’s residual anima.

  I’ve told Henry enough to satisfy him for now. Though he probably won’t get the chance to find out more. I have no idea if my mother can fix this, but if she can and does, I’m pretty sure that’ll mean I’ll lose another Carwyn because of being Jinn.

  “Wait, not yet.” Henry gestures toward his sleeping sister. “Should I be worried about her? I know you said most genie lore is pure myth, but she’s not going to wake up without her vocal cords or something, is she?”

  I cock my head. “I’m not following.”

  “You know, like in the movies. One of those genie tricks. Like a girl gets her wish to be stick thin but the cost is puking her guts out every morning.”

  I’d laugh but Henry’s too worried. “No, she’ll be fine.” To reassure him, I add, “I promise, no tricks with this one, even though a lot of the myths do seem to have a kernel of truth in them. Like my mom thinks the whole idea of wishes coming with strings attached is because our magic has its limits. A lazy or an untalented or even a mischievous Jinn might go the literal route. Way back when, people knew they had a wish granted. We didn’t have to make them forget like we do now. If they spilled the beans, the wish was reversed.”

  Henry relaxes back into his chair. “So if someone’s wish wasn’t granted the way they wanted, it probably seemed like the wish came with a cost.”

  I nod. “That’s not an issue anymore since wishees don’t remember the experience. The hardest part now is covering our tracks and making sure the wish is believable to them and to everyone else. Like with Zoe. She wanted to be tall, but if I left her bumping the ceiling, she’d—”

  “Totally go viral.”

  “Be dissected by your human doctors.”

  “Military.”

  This time, I do laugh. A little. “Either way, it’d raise suspicion.”

  “Viral.” Henry slaps his leg. “Damn. Can you imagine if we could put this on the Internet? Make a documentary? Real-life paranormal? We’d be rich.”

  My heart leaps to my throat. “You can’t. What I said about the Afrit wasn’t an exaggeration.” Though I kept the specifics vague, I had to tell Henry the consequences of him not keeping my secret. “If you hint to anyone, even your mom or dad—”

  Henry grabs both of my hands and looks at me with such intensity, I break out in goose bumps.

  “It was only a stupid joke, I swear, Azra. I swear on—”

  “It’s okay.” I don’t want him swearing on anyone’s life again. “It’s only jail.” Granted, if my mom isn’t exaggerating, it’s a perverse, living nightmare kind of jail, but Henry doesn’t need to know that.

  He squeezes his eyes shut as he shakes his head. “No, it�
��s not okay. You’re trusting me with all this. With … with your life.”

  But only for today. A rush of sadness and guilt overwhelms me. Henry must mistake this for fear because he clenches my hands so hard, my bones feel as though they might break.

  “And if they found out, you’d be taken away. From … all of us. For good.” He gently touches my silver bangle. “I’d never let that happen, Azra.”

  Henry’s honesty is never more on display than in his light green eyes. One look, and I’m positive nothing has ever been more true.

  “Thank you, Henry,” I say. “For today. It’s been a long time since … well, since I’ve had a day like today.”

  A cloud comes over his eyes. “Did you tell her? Did you ever tell Jenny?”

  It’s all I can do to shake my head no.

  Our awkward silence is interrupted by Lisa, who barrels into me and hugs my legs. I’m momentarily panicked, thinking the cloaking enchantment didn’t work. But it did. To Lisa, I’m just the girl from across the street who gave her french fries.

  The gratitude in Henry’s smile guts me. To him, I’m the girl from across the street, the best friend to the sister he lost, and the genie who helped the sister he clings to and puts before everything, including himself.

  I should … I will … I am going to confess to my mother.

  But not today.

  18

  Deeper. I should have dug deeper. That’s what my mother has to say in response to my (abridged) report on how I (more or less) successfully granted Zoe’s wish.

  She paces the living room in front of our bookshelf as I fidget on the couch. “Did you feel her emotions? Like you did with Mrs. Pucher?”

  “No, not with Zoe,” I admit. I then force myself to add, “But I did with Lisa. A little, I think.”

  She freezes. “What?”

  Words tumble out of my mouth. “It just happened, Mom, I swear. I didn’t plan it. I know it was wrong. One minute Lisa was stuttering and … have you heard her stutter?”

  She places her hand on her chest and nods slowly. “Elyse mentioned it too. And that this past school year was particularly difficult for her. Though she had been making some strides since she started seeing a speech therapist.”