At Your Command

  Shelley put her hand to her mouth and walked to the kitchen window, as if she physically needed to keep her little boy in sight. To get close to the window, she had to stand sideways. She looked every bit of eight months pregnant.

  "Andy is a very angry young man," said Chet. "He strikes out at authority, rather than retreating. This does have a positive side. We can both see that you are a very supportive parent."

  Maggie knew where Chet was going with this. She tried to join Shelley, but her legs wouldn't move.

  "Chet," Maggie tried to stop him with a hand on his arm, but he shook his head.

  "Sometimes this behavior in a child indicates a father who is verbally abusive. Mrs. Summer, has your husband ever struck Andy?"

  "No!" Shelley turned, her face red and her fists clenched. "I would never allow anyone to hurt my Andy that way."

  Chet looked to Maggie for help. The awful feeling in the pit of her stomach told her the truth she'd been trying to hide from herself. She so wanted a simple, physical cause for Andy's problems, something she knew how to fix. Maggie didn't know how to fix a broken family.

  She joined her friend at the window and together they watched Andy and Tom play soccer.

  "Shelley?" Maggie fought to keep her voice from breaking, and intertwined her fingers with Shelley's. "Sometimes a word can hurt more than a fist. Especially when it comes from a father."

  Shelley wiped her eyes with her hands and returned to the table. "I'll tell Andrew about the tests. I'll insist Andy take them. You just tell me which ones to ask for."

  "Of course, Chet and I will make a list that you can take to your school counselor. If you have any problems, let me know."

  Before Maggie could offer Shelley more coffee, yells from the backyard drew the three of them from their chairs. Maggie was fully prepared to see little Andy crying, his nose bloodied or his ankle sprained. Instead, Tom, arms and legs akimbo, lay draped over the hedge, one hand covering his nose.

  Andy, arms crossed over his chest, looked frighteningly like Tom. "I got it past him," he announced gleefully.

  Tom's answer was muffled. "You sure did, Andy. Great shot."

  "You should leave kids to the experts, Tom, old man." Chet gave him a hand getting out of the bush.

  Yeah, like you're so good with mothers. Maggie decided to leave her gibe at Chet unspoken.

  Shelley was still sniffling and didn't need any more aggravation. "I'm so sorry, Tom"

  "No, problem." Tom stood upright now, his hand still covering his nose. "It was a fair shot and Andy got it past me." He ruffled the boy's hair.

  "Maybe you and Andy..." Maggie drew Shelley's attention to the drops of blood that stained Tom's fingers.

  "Oh, my! Andy, we have to go now and fix supper for your Daddy."

  Chet walked her to the car and left Maggie alone with Tom in the garden. "So you can cry and you can bleed."

  His hand partially obscured his smile. "Just like a real boy."

  She led him to the kitchen and handed him an old towel. "Did he try to hurt you?"

  "He's just a little boy, Maggie. It was an accident."

  Maggie found she didn't have the strength to explain, and it probably didn't matter. Tom could take care of himself. Or could he? After she learned what he was, she had assumed his scars were obtained when he was too young to protect himself, before whoever placed this curse on him. Now, he had strength and power, but his behavior when they first met had been disturbingly passive.

  "I didn't know genies could get hurt. They don't on television, you know."

  "You will have to introduce me to this television genie someday." His nose had stopped bleeding, but the bridge of his nose and one cheek were red. He'd have a black eye in the morning. At least he would if he was human. Just like a real boy, he'd said, but he wasn't a real boy or a real man.

  "Why don't you sit," she said. "I'll make you tea. The slow way. I asked Mom to buy some herbal at the store. One of them is orange. You should like that."

  It was easier to ask her questions while she busied herself with the simple, domestic task of heating water.

  "Lady Sarah showed me how to use the microwave. It is almost as fast as my way." He sounded wistful.

  Maggie ignored the information and filled the teapot. She needed more time than micro-zapping eight ounces of water allowed. "I didn't realize you could bleed."

  "If I hit Chet in the nose, he would bleed, wouldn't he?"

  Maggie recognized that look in his eye. "But you won't hit Chet. You're different. Your bleeding worries me."

  Tom's gleeful grin changed to a frown. "Why?"

  "It means you can be hurt."

  Silence. She felt the teakettle. It was barely warm.

  "Those scars on your back. Did you get those when you were younger, I mean before..."

  He gave a harsh laugh. "Before I received my curse, you mean? When I was still human?"

  She refused to look at him and refused to answer. He knew exactly what she meant.

  "They are from my early years, but my original owner had other, more effective ways of controlling me." His hand went to his collar. "The presence of old scars brought out the beast in some of my masters, but they soon learned they could not put an end to me no matter how hard they tried."

  "You couldn't protect yourself?"

  "I was under their command, Maggie, as I am under yours now. Until they made their wish, I was not free to act for my own benefit. My constitution protects me from damage, not from pain."

  The kettle became too hot. She had to remove her hands. "Sometimes the wishes you granted killed your masters, didn't they?"

  Tom rested his chin on his fists. "Yes," he ground out between closed teeth.

  "Can you be killed?"

  The room became so quiet she could hear the bubbles rising from the bottom of the pot to burst when they reached the top. In a few moments, it would reach a full boil.

  "Is that what you want to do, Maggie, to kill me before I kill you?"

  Her head began a slow spin. What were they talking about? Why would Tom say such a thing? "I thought you were under my command. Answer my question."

  She opened the new box and dropped a bag of orange flavored tea into one cup. In the other, she heaped two spoons of instant coffee.

  "The more severe my wounds, the faster they heal. A life threatening injury repairs itself in seconds. Why I was given such power, I have no idea. I have no control over it. Minor wounds, like my bruised nose require a few days to heal. I feel pain, but I cannot be killed." His voice had gone cold and flat.

  "How do you know?" she asked.

  "One of my masters tried, several times. Dying is just one of the things I cannot do."

  She had wanted to ask her next question for several days, ever since Glenn arrived. "Is that how you discovered you can't have children? One of your masters forced you to try?"

  The thought of someone forcing Tom to perform that way made her sick, but was that what she was doing? Did Tom leave his double bed down the hall because he could, how did he phrase it, hear your unspoken wishes? Did he make love to her because he felt compelled to? His hair partially obscured his face. She could no longer see his eyes.

  "This particular master was quite desperate to increase his number of wishes. The fool never could make up his mind about anything. He thought if he couldn't increase the number of wishes I could grant him, he would increase the number of jinn he possessed."

  "The result of this experiment?" Was even this questioning a form of coercion? Was she forcing him to share his secrets?

  He brushed the hair out of his eyes. Was his bruise spreading, or did something else darken his face? "After months of rather tedious mating with a series of supposedly fertile women whom I did not know, the result was a very frustrated and angry master. No offspring."

  She didn't look up when she slid the cup across the table to him. Why did the thought of Tom making love to other women make her face flush and her hands curl into fists
? Had he rubbed their feet and whispered words of love in their ears? "That must have been a strain for you, having to have sex with all those women."

  "After a while, it became quite tedious, yes."

  "You sure do hear some interesting conversations around here."

  Maggie looked up to find Glenn grinning at them.

  Her mother followed a few steps behind. "What's that, dear? Oh, my." She stopped when she caught sight of Tom's face. "What have you two been up to then?"

  TOM TRIED TO grab Maggie before she ran from the room. He would have taken back his words if that were possible, but he had no ancient jinn to grant his wishes.

  Sarah stopped him from following Maggie, and he found himself left in the kitchen with Glenn.

  "Looks like we'd better lay low for a while," Glenn said as he put away groceries.

  Tom wasn't certain what he meant, but decided sitting down was a start. Evidently, Glenn was bringing home the bacon. Tom recognized several items as those Maggie identified as too pricey for their budget.

  That was something, at least. Sarah was happy and cared for.

  "I'd help you out, boy, but I've got my own troubles."

  Tom squinted at Glenn, trying to figure him out. He was a most difficult man to read. Always smiling and humming, but he said he had troubles.

  "Has Lady Sarah changed her mind about her wish? Does she no longer desire your presence?"

  "Lady Sarah. I like that. I always called her that, my lady, decades ago. She needs time to get used to the idea of me being back in her life. I can wait. Seeing her again is more than I'd hoped for at the end this sorry life."

  Tom nodded understanding. "I'm not sure how much time I have left."

  "Hmmm, Maggie's taking off in a couple of months, isn't she? That's tough when you're young. You have a career to think about, putting down roots, all those incidentals that don't mean a damn when you're older."

  "What is an impediment?"

  "Huh?"

  "According to my Maggie, you did not marry Sarah because of an impediment."

  "Well, I wouldn't want to contradict Maggie. Sarah told her what she wanted her to hear. It's not that I don't appreciate what you did for me, Tom, looking me up and all, but I don't suppose I should say any more."

  Glenn looked uncomfortable, but Tom didn't feel any compulsion to put him at ease. "I did bring you and Lady Sarah together, and I know you are happy. I wish to make Maggie happy, also. Merely occupying the same space with me does not seem adequate, at least not for my Maggie. We have occupied the same bed for many weeks, but even this has not brought her supreme happiness."

  "Oh, it's supreme happiness you're looking for, is it? I'm not sure I'm qualified to give advice on that."

  Tom's face grew hot. The man dared to laugh at him. It took all his self-control and a stern reminder that Lady Sarah would be most distressed if he squashed the man like a bug. Besides, it would rather counteract the wish he hadn't actually granted. Glenn had appeared at Lady Sarah's door as the result of his research on the Internet and a couple of long distance telephone calls. No magic had been required, not even the ordinary kind he employed to carry out commands.

  Was his head spinning because of the blow from Andy's soccer ball or was his web of deceit spinning too fast around him? Perhaps he should trust these humans. Tom tried to remember the last time he had been made of honest flesh. The image that came to mind was the choking leather band closing his throat and the raised arm of his owner.

  Glenn might not be qualified, but he was the most experienced person at hand. Tom could hardly go to Chet with his questions. "I thought you might know the secret to making a woman happy, since you failed to adequately please Lady Sarah when you were first acquainted. I am well-versed in many subjects, but have had little time or experience in the study of women."

  Glenn didn't stop smiling. The man obviously didn't know the danger he was in. Tom could always destroy him later, if he displeased Lady Sarah.

  "Making a woman supremely happy. Let's see now. For a woman like Sarah, that meant getting married and having a family. Oh, she liked the Navy well enough and enjoyed the traveling. And she's smart enough to make a success at whatever she sets her mind to, but for her, I think, life wouldn't be complete without a family. I couldn't give her that."

  Family. The word conjured no image in his mind. Tom was used to having words create a picture after all the languages he'd learned over the centuries. Family was a dead word. It carried a definition only, no picture, no feeling.

  "Maggie already has a family."

  "Yes, she does, but from what little I know about her, she wants a home of her own. Sarah is pretty upset about this wedding thing with Chet. Seems to think she set a bad example for her daughter, her own marriage being so...well, I don't know, not a love match, anyway."

  Love match? Tom thought of Tandia and the dress her father gave her to entertain men in his tent. The master who had wished for and received a hundred wives, not one of whom he loved or ever learned to love. Maggie's great-great aunt, whom Tom kept company for five years after her husband died. Never once did she show interest in another man. Then there was Maggie.

  "So you are saying that if I wish to make my Maggie happy, I must make a home for her?" He could do that. He already had one offer for a job. He could provide for her without using his magic, which seemed to bother her. She wanted a normal, ordinary life. She had made that clear. He could be normal. He could be ordinary.

  "Well, not necessarily you personally, boy, but yes, that's the idea. Nothing like babies to make a women feel fulfilled. I'm sure settling down and starting a family would make her happy."

  Children. He had almost forgotten about children. He enjoyed playing with Andy so much, it was hard for him to remember the boy had a real father, something he had no chance of being.

  Sarah breezed into the room and started making coffee. "You can't make someone else happy, Tom. Happiness comes from inside. A person has to make their own happiness."

  Glenn came up behind Sarah and kissed her neck. "You always were smarter than me."

  They both looked happy to Tom, and as the result of his actions, not of any baby. Despite what Sarah said, he had made her and Glenn happy, and he could do the same for Maggie. All he had to do was decide on her real second wish.

  MAGGIE WAS HALFWAY to downtown when she ran into Chet. Like Tom, he had made himself way too comfortable in town for her liking. He fell in beside her, taking his place on the outside, between her and the cars. She would have appreciated his thoughtfulness if his presence didn't force her to walk in the mud.

  "I've just been to see Mr. Summers. A fascinating case."

  Maggie recognized that look in his eye. It usually meant she wouldn't see him for weeks. "This isn't a case at your clinic, Chet. These aren't people who've volunteered for one of your studies."

  He raised an eyebrow. "So?"

  "You have to be careful, that's all. People don't like strangers interfering in their lives, especially people in small towns. You need to tread softly. Unless you have evidence for legal intervention--"

  Chet shook his head. "No, nothing that serious."

  "Well, you have to be careful not to make things worse. It takes a delicate hand."

  "So my little lab assistant is an expert now, is she?" Chet ruffled her hair.

  She set to work flattening it with her hands. Condescending bastard.

  "I may not have my Ph.D. I may never have one. But what I do have is experience working in school systems with real kids and real parents, who have real lives. That's a long way from your ivory tower out in California."

  For once, she seemed to have gotten through to him. He looked thoroughly chastened. "I didn't mean to step on your toes."

  "Then for heaven sakes, get out of my way so I can walk on the road." She shoved him into the street and claimed dry pavement. She tensed while she waited for him to respond, but he followed in silence, walking a few paces behind. By the time they
reached the grocery store, she realized she had overreacted.

  This time of year always did that to her. The snow had just melted, but spring wasn't really here. You needed a winter coat evenings, but in the afternoon sun you could go in shirtsleeves. She didn't know if she was cold or hot and took turns at each.

  It wasn't only the weather that had her on edge. Just when she thought she had everything figured out, her mother and Tom threw her these curves. After everything her mother had spouted about true love and weddings, now she was telling her she hadn't been in love with her father when they married. That came later, she said. A different kind of love. The kind built over time through overcoming obstacles. Why did her mother's words hurt so much?

  Her mother hadn't made a mistake, she'd loved Maggie's father. It was just that she'd loved this other man too. She hadn't come out and said why she hadn't married Glenn, but Maggie suspected she'd faced the same decision Maggie did now. Well, maybe not the same, exactly. Tom was hardly your typical Navy pilot. Heck, he wasn't even human, not any more. The fact that he couldn't have children didn't really matter. It was just one more reason why she had to forget him.

  Maggie stopped on the sidewalk that started a half block from the store. Chet joined her. "Look, Chet, I'm sorry."

  "No, it was my fault. You're right, about everything. Berkeley is no place to study child psychology. I should be here, back in a small town. The answers are where the people live, not in some sterile academic tower. I can feel it, Maggie. This is what I need, to return to my roots. I have you to thank for pointing it out to me."

  As usual, she and Chet weren't even on the same subject. Was it any wonder they seldom disagreed? At least with Tom, they fought over the topic at hand. "Well, I'm glad I could help, but really all I said--"

  Chet took her hand. "Look, Maggie, things haven't been going that well since you left."

  Why did that make her feel so good? She wanted to feel useful again, productive, not sitting around all day thinking about wishes. What good were wishes? She wanted to do something. "They haven't?"