"….how come Jesus looks just like a white guy
When he's from Palestine, that can't be right, no…
Sh-sh-sh-shakin' my head
Sh-sh-sh-shakin' my head…"
Sam fought the urge to shake his head wildly as he listened to his girlfrie—ex-girlfriend's first single filter loudly through his blue Beats. They had been a going away present from Mercedes. He initially protested because he thought it was too much but she placated him by saying that she got them for selfish reasons because she wanted him to hear her music in the best possible way. How could he argue with that?
It had been almost three months since he had last seen her in person. They still talked on the phone constantly but it was usually just snatches of conversations here and there. He missed her and instead of getting easier it seemed to get harder every day.
Sam kicked a rock that was in his path as he ambled down the cracked sidewalk towards his apartment. It was nothing but an old efficency in a rough part of town but it was his and he was paying for it all by himself. At the moment he was splitting time waiting tables at Breadstix and being a barista at The Lima Bean. It's not where he expected to be after having his face plastered all over the side of a bus but it was a honest's days work and he made enough in tips to survive on. All of the money from his modeling campaign was currently tucked away in a savings account that he didn't touch. Sam really didn't know what his next big plan was but he did know that whenever he figured it out he would be financially secure enough to go after it without worrying too much about how he was going to survive.
The addictive beat of 'Shakin' My Head' faded out and Sam couldn't help but smile at Mercedes cute little giggle at the end. He realized then that he needed to hear it for real so he decided to call her and tell her about a funny thing that happened at the Lima Bean that he knew she would get a kick out of.
He tugged the Beats from his ears and pulled his iPhone from his back pocket. He stared briefly at his background photo, Mercedes bright eyes were twinkling and her mouth was opened wide as she laughed loudly. He could practically hear it from just looking at the picture. She didn't like the photo and tried to make him change it but he told her that she was never more beautiful than when she was happy and until he found a picture with her looking even happier he wasn't changing it. She rolled her eyes but she never asked him to change it again—even after they broke up.
Regretfully he slid his finger across the screen to unlock it and he tapped the phone symbol to pull up his dial pad. He was in the process of dialing Mercedes' number when his arm was roughly pushed causing him to drop his phone.
"Hey!" Sam called out to the man who had rudely bumped into him and kept on walking past him. "Hey! Can you not see, man?"
The man kept walking and Sam shook his head in disgust. He picked his phone up and groaned when he saw the crushed screen. It was useless now which meant he was out of a phone, which meant he couldn't call Mercedes. The thought of that had Sam seeing red and he took off after the man to confront him
The man moved quickly down the sidewalk and Sam had to jog to catch him. The man glanced back towards Sam but seem unconcerned that he was following him because he didn't speed up but he didn't slow down either which infuriated Sam.
"Hey man! Look at what you did to my phone!" Sam screamed as he waved his phone in the air, "Are you not even going to apologize? You don't have to be a jackass! The least you could do is say I'm sor—-HEY! WATCH OUT!"
Sam watched in disbelief as the man casually stepped off the sidewalk and onto the street right in front of a black SUV. Without thinking Sam ran forward and grabbed the man's arm and jerked him back on the sidewalk just as the SUV hurtled past them.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief as wisps of blonde hair that had been blown upwards by the force of the SUV fluttered back down on his forehead. He turned around to find the man laying on the grass on the other side of the sidewalk and watching him with a curious gleam in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked harshly because what he really wanted to do was ask them man if he were fucking crazy.
The man smiled up at before saying in a surprisingly deep and melodic voice, "I'm quite alright, thanks to you young man."
Sam raised his eyes at the term 'young man' because the guy staring up at him didn't look as if he were much older than Sam. He had smooth brown skin and inky, straight black hair and he looked as if he was of middle eastern descent. Sam reached his hand towards the man and helped him up. Sam had a good five or six inches on the guy, in fact he wasn't much taller than Mercedes.
Sam watched warily as the man nonchalantly brushed his jeans off as he was straightening up after eating a picnic on the grass instead of just coming thisclose to be flattened by an SUV.
"Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you could've died just now."
"But I didn't. Thanks to you." The man repeated with a slight bow of his head. "I must repay you for what you did."
"Nah, man." Sam shook his head, but then he looked down at his shattered phone on the ground and he quickly changed his mind. "Well, you could get this fixed." He said as he picked up the iPhone.
The man smiled as he stared at the phone but then he shook his head slightly. "I am sorry, young man, I do not have any money with me but I can give you something far more valuable."
Sam sighed in frustration, "Honestly, man if you can't get my phone fixed there really isn't anything you can do for me."
"Are you sure about that? Is money and material things all you desire?"
"No," Sam answered in an exasperated tone as a vision of Mercedes flashed in his mind, "but the things I really want you can't give me."
"Are you sure about that?" The man asked again. "Are you really sure about that?"
Sam fought the urge to roll his eyes. This conversation was clearly going no where and he was just wasting his time talking to this man.
"Look, if you're sure you're okay then I'm going to go home, okay?"
"You cannot leave until you repay you." The man said firmly but the smile still stayed in place.
"Ugh, fine! Just whatever you want to give me will be fine."
"Thank you, young man."
Sam stared at the man impatiently as he waited for him to give him a ball of rolled up lint from his pocket or something but instead the man came forward and grabbed his hands. Sam fought the urge to jerk back because the man's hands startled him. His face and body appeared young but the man's hands felt like he remembered his 80 year-old grandfather's hands feeling. The were rough and wrinkly and so hot—almost inhumanely hot. Sam looked up in surprise at the man but the man didn't say a word in response to the silent question. He closed his eyes and muttered briefly under his breath for a second before squeezing Sam's hands tightly three times. After the third squeeze the man dropped Sam's hands abruptly and stepped back.
"There is your gift."
"You holding my hands was my gift?" Sam asked in disbelief. "The ball of lint would have been better."
"I have granted you three wishes. Anything your heart desires, anything you want at all just say, 'I wish…' and it will be yours."
"Dear Lord…" Sam started as he rolled his eyes but he was interrupted as the man continued on.
"But be careful because if you change the past it will have ramifications for your future."
"Are you serious? Oh my God, you're serious aren't you?"
"Listen to me young man, greater men than you have fallen prey to this power. Remember, with great power comes a great—"
"Responsibility? Uncle Ben is that you?" Sam laughed rudely.
"Comes a great price." The man finished calmly. "If you misuse this gift then it will come back to haunt you."
"Look, whatever man." Sam said finally, "Thanks for nothing…I mean, thank you for the three wishes, I will guard them with my life."
The man just continued to smile but nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"Thank you again young man for your kindness. May I ask, what is your name?"
"Sam. Sam Evans, what's yours?"
"Djinn."