The Devil in Apartment 13 Read online

  What if they were in fact more complicated than that?

  SHIT.

  The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. Nizar pushed the lobby button and they remained quiet, stewing in the juices of their disagreement.

  “I will respect your wishes and not go back and forth with you about this, Shahzad.”

  “Thank you.”

  “This will be it, after today. Regardless of how it turns out. Let me offer you a bit of advice before all of this is said and done. I want to preface this by saying that if you are serious about this, and apparently you are, Shahzad, please know that I only want what is best for you.”

  “I’m certain that you do. Between you and me, contrary to what you may think, I do in fact wish to make a good impression on this woman. Therefore, you’ve given me food for thought.”

  Nizar laughed, as if not believing his ears. “Really?”

  “Don’t let it go to your head.” Shahzad smirked. “As I’m testing her, this will be a test for me as well. I must study her wishes. Not just what she desires… but why she desires it. Seems that is the key to unlocking such a woman, yes?”

  “Perhaps. It couldn’t hurt.”

  The elevator doors swung open, revealing the opulent lobby area. Shahzad reached for Nizar’s arm. “You must trust my intuition. I read fellow Jinns and humans well.”

  “I must admit that you do.” Nizar lowered his head, almost in reverence.

  “My friend, something about her is different.” Shahzad rested his hand on his shoulder. “She’s no ordinary human. My attraction to her grows every day. I do not know what’s causing this.” He shrugged. “But it’s happening, and I must get to the bottom of it. All I know is that my heart beats faster when I look at her. This first time it happened to me I thought I was having a medical crisis…” He placed his hand across his chest, and Nizar now sported a sad smile. Or maybe one of resignation. “Perhaps that’s love? I have no idea. What I do know is that I intend to fuck her silly. My lust for her is growing by the second.” He grew serious and cleared his throat. “I’ve been dying to jolt her soul. To make her pussy slobber and drip out honeyed drops that spell my name across my silk sheets…”

  Her apartment was supposed to be empty…

  What was that noise? There it was again… a bump, a light thump, and then another.

  Sounds like cabinets…

  Dressed in a long black robe, Shahzad approached his doorway. It was one in the morning on a Saturday night. Typically, he’d be quite busy out granting wishes to wealthy, desperate clients but decided to work on another project that needed his attention. The city was alive with chatter, bright lights, and spastic energy but the property was fairly quiet. That was rather unusual. He could hear himself breathing, in spite of the music playing from down the hall. Vivian was at work, he was certain. Perhaps she’d gotten home early due to falling ill? No… He would’ve felt her presence. Yes, his senses were just that sharp. He knew when she was close by, but at this moment he got no indication of that.

  Besides, he’d figured out her schedule and though he wasn’t at that apartment building as much as he’d like, he tried to be there as much as time would permit. He had renovations underway and was studying the blueprint to see if he could add a rooftop club. Although the building wasn’t in a desirable part of town, half-priced drinks and great musicians would still bring in the loot.

  BUMP! There it was again. Opening his door, keys in hand, Shahzad stepped out in the hallway. He glared at Vivian’s closed door and his temper began to flare.

  Who the fuck is in her apartment?!

  In seconds flat, he had the door wide open and willed himself invisible. Her bedroom light was on. Drifting down the hall, his hands fisted, he peered inside the room. There, with his hairy, sweaty, broad back facing him, was Sam.

  You son of a bitch…

  The man was rifling through a dresser drawer, plunging his nasty big hands into a pile of neatly folded panties and bras, making a mess as he rummaged and had his fun. The pervert scooped some of the lingerie up with both hands and brought them to his nose, sniffing hard. His body vibrated with jubilation, as if at any second he was going to cum on himself. Drawer after drawer he violated, none the wiser that he was being stalked. Watched.

  The ogre made his way to what appeared to be a small clothing hamper in the corner of the room. Not wasting a moment, he stuck his hand in, chuckling as if he’d hit the motherload. He took great delight in rubbing the sweaters, panties, and socks all over his face, taking in her scent.

  “Ohhhh, you smell so sweet, Vivian! Oh, how I’d love to fuck ya, baby! You’re not getting any younger, ya know? All these pretty women, nice lookin’ broads in this place… I’m like a kid in a fuckin’ candy store but you, baby, you’re the new kid on the block and best of all, ya don’t have a man. You need a man, pretty lady… someone to give it to ya good!”

  “What do you call yourself doing, Mr. Khoury?”

  The big man nearly jumped out of his skin as Shahzad materialized in visual form. He spun around, then blinked several times, as if thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him. A wisp of white smoke eddied towards the ceiling as Shahzad’s temper exploded.

  “Ahhh, ohhh! I was uh… I was just, uh, in here fixin’ ’er sink like ya told me!” The man shook as he pointed towards the open doorway.

  “The sink isn’t in her hamper of dirty clothing.” Shahzad pointed to all of the articles strewn around the room, the furniture topsy-turvy. “It’s not in her dresser drawers, either.”

  “I did the kitchen one and the bathroom one, see? I did ’em both and then I just got bored and decided to get goofy! I know ya understand, just passin’ the time. Didn’t mean any harm!” The guy shrugged his shoulders as he laughed nervously. Sweat poured down his face and he looked like someone had dumped a bucket of water atop his head. Shahzad took a deep breath, crossed his arms and gritted his teeth.

  “Sam, I told you that as long as you did what I asked you to do and nothing more, you’d be taken care of and awarded financially.”

  “I did, boss! I fixed the sinks!” The man then pointed to a rusty red toolbox in the corner of the room.

  “I didn’t ask you to fix the sinks. I asked you to alert our repair crew of the issue and have them fix Ms. Carver’s sink and all the other maintenance services that had been requested by her, as well as a few others, by the end of next week. I never asked you to personally come and do it. In fact, I told you that you were not to enter any apartments unless it was an emergency.”

  The man’s eyes landed upon his black slippers… and his body started to shake more violently.

  “Your… your feet! You’re not on the ground! Holy shit! You’re not… you’re not on the fuckin’ ground! You’re floating!” Shahzad yawned, then clapped his hands one time. The bedroom door quickly slammed shut and locked. “Oh, God! Oh, shit! Man, look! Whatever you are, whatever you got goin’ on, I won’t say a word! Just don’t hurt me, man, I mean, Mr. Haidar. Please! I’m beggin’ ya!”

  Shahzad drew closer and peered down at him, pressing on the man until he had him crouched down like an injured insect in the corner next to the now upended hamper, a pair of pale pink lacey panties clutched in his fist. He could barely stomach the sight of the beast.

  “Sam, someone once wished you’d burn in Hell. In fact, she did so several times. It was your wife.” The man’s beady eyes stretched wide. “I’m going to go ahead and throw ’er a bone, grant her wish.”

  “What?! How do you know my wife? What are you talking about?”

  “I know her wishes. I know everyone’s wishes. I can hear them… smell them… taste them… You wished for riches, that’s a common one, but you also wished for other things… very distasteful, nasty things. Regardless, your wife has helped me immensely. See, her wishes have made things easier for me because then I don’t have to go through all of these damn rituals ’nd shit, fill out all of this paperwork and explain what I’m doing
to the Masters.” He waved his hand about lazily. “See, it’s too complicated for you to probably understand, you’re not exactly the sharpest razor in the toolbox; but when someone has to meet their demise and nobody wished for it, I have to make a case for myself. This isn’t a free-for-all, there’s checks and balances, you know? It’s a long, boring process.” Shahzad rolled his eyes and grimaced. “So, let’s just take care of this now so I don’t have to deal with you later.”

  “Take care of me now? Masters? What are you? A Satan worshipper or somethin’?!”

  “No, no, no!” Shahzad chuckled. “Satan is pathetic. I would never swear any allegiance to him. He’s afraid of God, as he should be, but see, God has been aware of my kind’s existence since the beginning of time. Satan didn’t make me; the Masters did. I get mistaken for Satan though from time to time due to my some of my deeds—the ugly, bloody, horrible ones—but that confusion is reserved for the uneducated, the ignorant, the ones who believe I have no moral compass. I do… it’s broken, but every now and again if you kick it hard enough, it works for a bit. I can’t help it though, Sam.” He shrugged as the man sat there blubbering. “I take great delight in destroying people and even fellow Jinns who think they can get one over on me, or forget that I am still what I am… and I will always be.” He narrowed his eyes on him.

  “Jinn? Like a… a Genie? You think that… you think you’re a genie like Aladdin?” The fat man burst out in hysterical laughter, crying and giggling all at the same time.

  Shahzad offered a crooked grin.

  “A specific type. I’m certain your great grandfather told you the tale of the Marids…” Suddenly, Sam’s face drew ashen white. “Yes, you disgusting sloth. I know all about you! Your wishes, your father’s wishes, and his father’s wishes, too! You’ve heard of the Marids!”

  “But you’re not a fish! Those were just stories. Folk tales!”

  “Not all of us turn into fish, Sam. Some of us exist just like this. Of course, shapeshifting can be fun at times, too.”

  “AHHHHH!!!!” Sam screamed at the top of his lungs when Shahzad suddenly grew ten feet tall, his back bending when he hit the ceiling and his eyes glowing like golden globes. The entire room lit up as he snarled at his prey. Shahzad laughed then slowly brought himself back down to his normal size. He cracked his neck and bent his back in a strange, awkward way to release a kink.

  “Enough of that. The issue at hand is that I don’t appreciate you giving me these sorts of chores this late at night. I was rather busy, but now, I’ll have to hire someone to replace you.”

  “Oh God, this has to be a bad dream! I’m really trippin’! None of this is real, none of this is real, none of this is real!” the man chanted, closing his eyes and rocking back and forth.

  “I know you’ve been drinking tonight, but all of this is quite real, Sam. Stand up.”

  “Come on, man! I was just in here messin’ around with the lady’s underwear! That doesn’t mean I should die. Be fair!”

  “I said stand up!” The man quickly did as he was asked, though he shook like a leaf.

  “Shahzad, please! Give me another chance!”

  “I’ve given you several. I wanted to do away with you as soon as we’d met. You blew it. You’ve been stealing from tenants, lying on some of them, convincing your wife to do things she doesn’t want to do. And I’ve allowed you to stay here rent free, with a salary that I doubled in hopes that it wouldn’t come to this.”

  “Can I make a wish?! Ya gotta grant me a wish, Shahzad! I get three wishes and I want ’em!”

  “No, I don’t have to grant you anything. It doesn’t work that way, Sam. That is fairytale shit. I’m not from a cartoon and I don’t live in a bottle though I am quite fond of them for aesthetic reasons. I do not wear a turban, nor do I fly on magical carpets. I hate the desert, too; hence, I moved. You’re being silly. I don’t have to give anyone a damn thing unless I want to. It’s my choice. Always.”

  “Jesus!”

  “Jesus provides miracles. I’m not in the forgiveness or phenomenon business. He trusted mankind too, and look what you all did to him…”

  “Cut me some slack! AHHHH!” Rips, tears, and slashes rent the air over the man’s legs as his pants were torn from the knee down. All in a split second. Blood oozed from the clean cuts, as if an invisible assailant had gone in for the attack.

  “What?” Shahzad burst out laughing. “You said, ‘Cut me some slack.’” He drew suddenly serious and rose higher towards the ceiling once more, extending to his true full height of ten feet seven inches. With one hand in the air, he glared down at the man.

  “No! No, no, no! PLEASE!!!”

  “Drip, drop, rain please wait. Fire comes for the human stain…

  I grant thee wife her wish, I am so compelled…

  Burn, burn, burn! Sam goes straight to Hell!”

  A loud boom erupted, followed by a blaze of fire. Shahzad placed his hands slowly over his ears to deafen the noise and not risk waking the neighbors. The big man rolled and thrashed and screamed for every inch of his flesh was engulfed in the flames. Water gushed from the ceiling over the body, putting out the fire once Shahzad was satisfied.

  It didn’t take more than a few minutes for him to be nothing more than black ash. Shahzad made quick work of cleaning up the apartment. The clothing was neatly folded, too, placed back in the drawers, and the hamper was once again upright. He knew it would be no time before Vivian got home, and chances were high she wouldn’t quite understand why there was a charred, dead body in her apartment. In less than twenty minutes, all evidence was destroyed, the odor of burning flesh eliminated, and Shahzad was back in his apartment, taking a smoke bath, smoking a gold cigar, and listening to, Robbie Robertson’s, ‘Somewhere Down The Crazy River.’ He bobbed his head to the music, enjoying himself…

  While he lounged in the smoky bathtub, he heard Vivian entering her place. Listening close, with his bat-ear-type hearing, he heard her say in an excited voice, “Oh, good! The sink is finally fixed.”

  He grinned, sat back, and closed his eyes…

  CHAPTER SIX

  Carpe diem

  “April’s lawyer stated she has an I.Q. of 71.” Vivian burst out laughing so hard, she could barely stand straight and make her way out of the darkness of the tunnels she’d grown so accustomed to. She walked up the steps from the subway and bristled from the chill in the air. She’d decided to catch a Lyft the rest of the ride home; it would be less hassle and worth the extra twenty bucks. As usual, Kamila was filling her in with the family dirt. The woman should have sought employment at TMZ. “April is contesting this diagnosis, and said she had nothing to do with that ice cream parlor being robbed and that the other two women involved just made her a part of it when they spoke to the police because she ratted ’em out.”

  “But how did her I.Q. get tested in the first place?! Goodness, I know she’s dumb but damn.”

  “It didn’t get tested. Well, not recently.”

  “So it’s just an educated guess that she has the same I.Q. as that of a rat suffering from dementia?” Vivian chuckled, amused so.

  “No! This is from records obtained during high school I think.”

  “Oh… that’s insane! They can use that information? Wow. Do you think she really did it though? I mean, April is a real piece of work but if you take her cuteness away, there really isn’t much left. I can’t imagine her planning this. Can you?”

  “Nah. She’s probably telling the truth. She’s not smart enough to pull something like that off but this is still funny as hell. I doubt she’ll do much jail time but she’ll probably have community service. Oh, and Uncle Henry said David got robbed last night.”

  “What?! Robbed?”

  “Yes, girl! He was hobbling away on his crutch over there near Grand Central Terminal and some crusty mothafucka jumped out of an alley, gave him a Bruce Lee chop to the groin and that fucker was out cold for a few minutes, they said. Down went Frazier!” Kamila’s lau
gh vibrated in Vivian’s ear.

  “Is he okay?” Like she gave a damn. She swallowed her laughter. Karma had kissed the prickly lips of sweet revenge. Destiny had struck and good fortune was really in her corner for a change! Is this who I’ve become? Gloating at others’ misfortunes? But he cheated on me, twice! Nevertheless, I thought I was better than this… I guess not. Oh, well. She shrugged.

  “Yeah, but they said he lost about seventy bucks.”

  “He owes me way more than that. Seems to me he got off easy. Glad he isn’t dead, but damn.”

  “Girl, that karma bus just keeps on coming for these two idiots! It rolls on over ’em, backs up, and starts again. Such satisfaction… It’s rich! Speaking of rich, what about that cute Arab guy that’s been trying to get with you, huh? Went out with him yet?”

  “How in the hell do you know about Shahzad?!”

  “I got my ways!” Kamila giggled. Vivian rolled her eyes. The gossip mill was always running. “As long as he didn’t have shit to do with 9/11 and Isis, we’re cool.”

  “I highly doubt that! I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “I’m only saying what some people are thinking and too afraid to say!”

  “Right, it’s called decorum. Anyway, we’re supposed to go out this evening, actually.”

  “Well, have fun, girl. You deserve it! Oh, next weekend I’m gonna come by your job, me, Dana and Oja. We’re celebrating Oja’s birthday. Can you, uh, hook us up with some—”

  “Free drinks?” Vivian grimaced then burst out laughing. “Yeah, I can – but only three, one for each of you! I mean it, Kamila.”

  “Thank you, girl! Love you to the moon and back and I’ll chat with you soon. Gotta get back in here to work. You know I stay begging!”

  Vivian smiled. “It’s fine, you’ve never come across as entitled. Love you, too.” She disconnected the call and caught her Lyft ride a few minutes later. The sun was setting and the clouds melted together against a canvas of purple hues. So peaceful. While she played on her phone a bit, enjoying the commute, she received a text message from her sister that simply stated, ‘CALL ME.’