Chapter 8: Ch.8: A Fair Warning

Friday for Dante meant appraisals. Running from place to place to certify items for the Twin Horizons history museum. Or dash a pawn shop's hopes of a big sale. 

It paid almost as well as the college when she had back-to-back appointments. But it left her twice as exhausted. Making her return home all the more satisfying. 

And then she opened the front door.

Before her was Jiji Jinn running in a perfect circle. Along the wall. She even left a pink trail of sparkles under her footprints. Tatiana watched from the living room with a cup of sweet tea. Another empty cup sat on the table.

“Hi, Professor Dante!” Jiji yelled, still circling above their heads like a roadrunner chasing a bug. 

Dante entered, “Why did you give the hyperactive lesbian with infinite magical power and no attention span sugar?” 

“She’s pan,” Tatiana corrected. 

Dante combined her grumble with a side-eyed glare. 

“Easy girl! I thought she could handle it! Besides, it was just some sweet tea.”

“Your ‘sweet tea’ or a normal person’s ‘sweet tea’.”

Jiji bounced off the wall. She did a 450-degree spin, tucked her knees as she did so, and used the couch to stick the landing! Confetti rocketed out of the cushion on impact. 

Dante shielded herself from the mass amount of small pieces of paper that only managed to get stuck in her hair. Tatiana couldn’t be bothered to flinch. Her only reaction came after the wall of gold sprinkled away. 

Their living room had turned into a runway with Jiji being the model. She posed on a blue carpet with lights pointing up toward her. 

On her person was a strapless sequin dress reaching her calves. Topaz earrings with a bracelet to match. And high heel shoes. Even her hair was down to her back instead of its usual ponytail.  

“What is your obsession with gold?” Dante asked, “Is that something to do with Jinn culture?” 

Jiji’s outfit was, as always, fixated on one of her favorite colors. Sparkling and reflecting against the lights. 

“Nope!” Jiji happily twirled her dress side to side, “I just like gold! And Blue! And Pink! Especially pink! Should I go in a pink dress instead?”

“That’s your question?” Tatiana asked her wife. “Not, ‘where’s my couch’ or ‘where’d the dress come from’?” 

“It's been three days. Unless she makes the house completely disappear, I’m done being surprised.” 

Tatiana then answered Jiji, “You’re gonna want something less formal. Unless they serve lobster at that drive-in theater.” 

Jiji snapped her fingers and everything returned to normal. Tatiana and Dante weren’t sitting on the couch before, but neither minded the teleporting. 

Dante held her stomach, “Ok, so that just happened.” 

Well, Tatiana didn’t mind.

“Sorry Professor Dante.” Jiji began bouncing on her toes, “I’m just so excited! I’ve never been on a date before! I’ve never been to a movie theater before either! It’s my first in a lot of things! I’ve read a lot about movies and how they work from projections from a film reel device to a silver screen and then the speakers around the room simulate-”

Dante put a pin in the word dump for a moment. 

“Jiji, listen to me for a second. What do you know about Jazz?”

Jiji had stars in her eyes, “Oh man! She’s so cute! She’s got this long hair that makes her eyes pop! She has this sweet-sounding voice that reminds me of honey! She wears really tight jeans that make her thighs-”

Dante interrupted, “No, I mean, her personality. What are her interests? Is she trustworthy? What does she like to do?” 

Tea chimed in with a, “Uh babe, isn’t that what the date’s for?” 

Dante pinched the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes. As she took an inhale, Tatiana loosened her wife’s tie and rubbed her back. When Dante opened her eyes, it was with a smile.

“Look,” Dante offered to their ‘young’ adult friend, “You and I both like our girls thick. But you need to know more about her than ‘she has big boobs’. Otherwise, you could be going out with a possible serial killer.” 

Jinn scratched her scalp at the statement. She even tilted her head and let out an ‘uh’. 

Jiji then casually summoned a giant mallet in hand. It was the size of her torso and head, yet she held it like a baseball bat over her shoulder. 

“Professor, I can handle myself.”

“That is not what I meant!” Dante panicked, picturing Jiji under arrest for bludgeoning one of her coworkers. 

“Why a hammer?” Tea asked. Her wife’s side eye sent her out of the room. “I’ll go pick out a better outfit for our girl.” 

Dante stepped from her seat to meet her genie eye to eye. She guided the mallet to the ground and clasped her hands on Jiji’s shoulders. Neither were smiling.

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“Jiji, listen, I don’t trust Jazz. I think she’s just looking to take advantage of you. I know you can handle yourself, physically, but I need you to know that you shouldn’t give personal info to people you’ve only known for a day or two.” Dante asked, “Understand?”  

“Not really,” Jiji admitted. “I’ve known you for the same amount of time. Also, I technically met Tea before I met you. Well, I knew who you were the second your hand touched my lamp. Meaning I knew you for a day before we met in pers-”

“You’re rambling.”

“Sorry Professor Dante.” Back on track, “Well, I trust you because of our magic connection. I trust Tatiana because she showed me how to play a video game. Also, you trust her. So, if Jazz is willing to take me out to a movie after I messed up texting her, then she should be trustworthy.”

Dante shook her head and let go of the girl. She lowered her brow as the lecture went on.  

“Someone doing a few nice things doesn’t make them a nice person. They could just be faking it to get something out of you. You really need to think about who you associate with and why they want to associate with you. You agreed to go on a date with Jazz not knowing anything about her other than she has a nice body. You can’t just blindly put yourself in situations where people can take advantage of you.” 

Dante stopped talking when she realized the woman wasn’t exactly listening. Jiji was rubbing her arm and looking down at the carpet. 

There was a sigh that came from Dante to reset the mood.

Barrett spotted the lamp on the coffee table. Without wasting any time, or leaving any feelings too sour, she handed the item to Jiji. No words were shared. Just an exchange of expressions. One regretful, and another grateful.

“You’ll call if the date goes bad?” Dante asked sincerely.

Jiji poofed her phone into her hand, “Yep! And I’ll call your wife if the date goes well.”

“Please rephrase.”

Said wife then rushed back into the room with a tablet in hand. 

“Ok, since the ‘ballroom getup’ won’t fly for a movie date, I say we put you in this!” Tatiana let Jiji grasp the device and gasp at the picture. “Whaddya think?”

“She’s so freaking pretty!” Jiji said, referencing the model. “Her outfit is really cute too! I’m totally taking it!” 

Jiji stuck her hand into the tablet screen. Dante checked the other side; unable to find Jinn’s fingers. Tatiana didn’t know what else Dante was expecting. 

Jiji fished out the articles of clothing one at a time. First were the black and yellow high-top sneakers that she tossed downward and replaced the high heels. The striped knee socks matched the shoes. Her next items to trade with the model were black shorts. To top it off was a short sleeve yellow top underneath a lightweight black hoodie. 

All of the items hung in the air as if gravity were a suggestion instead of a rule. Jiji grabbed the hoodie and used it to cover her hips and legs like a matador with a cape. She pulled with grace and revealed the shorts. 

Now, the top half of her dress looked as if it was tucked into designer shorts. All Jiji did was put the hoodie on, zip it up over her dress, then zip it down to reveal the top on her body. The only thing unchanged were the earrings.          

“How do I look?” Jiji asked, knowing the answer.

“Girl!” Tea high-fived the girl, “Jazz is gonna drool when she sees you!”

“Yes!” Jiji pumped her fist.

Almost on cue, a car horn honked from the driveway.

“Speak of the devil,” Dante muttered. 

“Oh! Almost forgot!” Jiji pulled the chain of her lamp. 

Its length increased and the size of the lamp itself got wider and larger as she tugged. She stopped when the lamp’s metal resembled a more silicone texture. The chain was now long enough for her to sling from her shoulder. Finally, a zipper and a small velcro pocket were now present. The genie lamp was now in purse form and carrying her phone. 

“Wish me luck!”

“Good luck!” Tea cheered.

“Be safe,” Dante said.

Jiji took a step, phasing her foot through the door, forgetting that humans needed to open doors before walking through the gap. She then swiftly drew back and used the door as a human would. The Barretts both suddenly got a little less secure. 

“Is she gonna be ok?” Dante asked. 

“I dunno,” Tea admitted. “Let’s watch a movie. You’ve been stressed lately.” 

“Yeah, a bumblebee with infinite power running around in my house high on sugar will do that!”

“Hey,” Tea argued, “my name’s on the mortgage too.”

END

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