Page 8 of Devil's Crossroad

“I am relaxed. You want to rush this talk, so you start. Tell me like it is Devil.” She winks and smirks at me. That’s my woman.

“All right, Miss Sassy Pants, I will do that.” I take my first bite of steak, and I make a damn good steak if I do say so myself. I chew my food thoroughly and swallow. “I have thought about everything you have said and considered it. I don’t want to leave you responsible for the nine children we have and then add another one to it in case something happens to me. I love you and have promised to make your dreams come true. I can’t do this with a clear conscience. I feel old. I don’t want to start from square one again. I wanted to stop after the first set of twins. Just be reasonable.” I see Callie’s eyes bore into me, and there is fire behind those beautiful blue eyes. I wait for it, but Callie doesn’t explode. She looks like I just broke her heart.

“We’re not having a discussion then. You said your piece on the subject, and then you just decided without letting me say a word.” Callie asks me with ice in her voice.

“I always have the last say in everything concerning us or our family,” I tell her.

“No, the one of us it mostly concerns is who has the say about the subjects we discuss. That’s the way it has always been for nineteen years.” Callie tells me. I see I am taking this too lightly. Callie is pissed.

“I won’t change my mind on this. I don’t want another child, and I never will. When we get back, you can set up an appointment to have the procedure done so we have no accidents or, oops, babies like our last set of twins. The kids and I will then pamper you until you are better.” I can’t keep my mouth shut, but I want this subject closed.

“Are you insinuating that I got pregnant on purpose with Karson and Kye?” She asks me.

“It was convenient timing. You were gearing up to tell me you wanted more children and poof, and you ended up pregnant without us talking about it. It seems only fair that I make this decision.” Callie is growing more withdrawn from the conversation.

“Whatever you think Kylar. I am going for a walk to calm down. I will tell you there will be no procedure done to me. If I decide I still want another baby, I’ll go to the damn sperm bank to get a donor.” Callie gets up from her chair. I watch this as if I am having an out-of-body conversation with my wife. I can’t believe the nasty things I have said. I don’t talk to the woman I love like this.

“You can’t go out, it’s after dark.” Callie laughs at me.

“Don’t tell me you believe in what all these people have been saying. I am going out to take a walk, and I will take my gun with me. Satisfied?” I can’t say a word. She’s right. What am I thinking? Callie doesn’t hang around to hear what I have to say. I believe she has heard enough from me tonight. Did she tell me that she would have another man’s child? I don’t care if it is through a sperm bank or not. It’s not happening. Then, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I don’t go after Callie and grovel for forgiveness. Instead, I finish drinking the beers I have left.

ELEVEN

Callie

I can’t believe half the things coming out of Kylar’s mouth. Yet again, I would never have another man’s child, and I said I would. He had me so mad. I could have used him as a punching bag. I have never tricked Kylar into having children with me. My feelings are hurt, but my heart is broken. I will never have another child. Maybe I will take up day drinking. That makes me smile even though I want to cry. I won’t cry, however. I shed my last tears over men many years ago between Mason, Kylar, and Andrew; they were my kryptonite. They each broke me differently. I healed from it all and cried a bucket full of tears along the way. Never again. I deal with what I need to and let everything else slide when I can. Kylar and I returned to each other, and I have never loved another man since that day.

The pain is back today. I didn’t even know that Kylar felt this way. I thought he was as happy as I was about our children. I can’t imagine one day without all our children. Now I know, and I feel guilty for not having my eyes open all these years.

I have walked far from the cabin. I can’t see the lights anymore. I should have brought a flashlight with me. The moon is full tonight, and the trail is well-lit for me. I hear water running. I walk towards the noise. The sound of the running water is like a lullaby to my ears. When I see the water, I see a tree I can lean against, and I feel my eyes getting heavy.

TWELVE

Kylar/Devil

I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I opened my eyes, and three women are in the room with me. Each woman is beautiful, but nobody can hold a candle to my woman.

I see you have decided to join us, Devil. It’s better than one of us waking you. Even though I know I would enjoy your screams. The screams you will be enjoying every day when you are damned to hell, and mark my word, that day is coming if you stay on the path that you have taken tonight. Your sharp tongue will drive all the people you hold dear away from the cold heart inside you. Tonight is the night of your reckoning. Tonight is the night we decide if we will damn your soul. Follow us for your tale to be told.” The first woman tells me. I get up, and I follow the three of them to leave the cabin. Then I think about Callie. Where is Callie?

“Where is my woman?” The only woman who has spoken floats back to me. Holy shit, she’s not walking, she is floating. The woman laughs. It sounds more threatening than a funny laugh.

“Shouldn’t that have been the first thing you asked or said? Your thoughts turned to anger, not of your loved one. Or is she your loved one?” The woman is gone then. I want to search the cabin, but I find myself following the women. The women have stopped by the tree they had seen the cats in earlier. No, it wasn’t us, it was me. I catch up with the women at the tree. “You, Devil, are a bewildering man. Your heart says you are half good, but the other half of you is terrible. You have killed without remorse. You have destroyed lives without a second thought. You command an influential club of men, but you try to get them to walk on the side of the law now. The law has no place in the afterlife. You are what we call even-hearted. You cannot be the man you are without having both sides. Your woman and family is what makes you have a good side. Before you met Callie, you were a shell of a man your father used as his puppet. You did his dirty deeds in life. He turned brother against brother. He didn’t give his daughter love, and she had no substance or backbone. She was a vessel for evil. Your father, brother, and sister have all been given their sentence. They are damned to excruciating torture for all eternity to pay for their sins. You see, Devil, each person that has disappeared from Pandora is either being tortured in another dimension until the Devil drags them to hell to continue their torture, or we have put them to beneficial use for us. You see, Devil, we also work for the good of the people. Can you imagine how we torture a child molester? No, you can’t. Your mind will never grasp the depravity we will go to. You live by the sword, then you die by the sword, and we all know you live by the sword. How do you think your demise will be?” The bitch finally shuts up.

“Where is my wife? If you have touched one hair on her head, you will feel my wrath, and you don’t know the lengths I will go to protect the woman that I love.” I yell out. The woman looks at me, and then she laughs that maniacal laugh. I want to choke the ever-loving life out of her. My eyes cut towards the other women. They aren’t there, and that makes my skin crawl. Is Callie in danger? I will give my life for hers. I will make a deal with the devil if I need to so she will be safe.

“Once again, you are concerned for your woman. You were hateful to her tonight when all she wants is to give you another child. Someone for both of you to nurture and love. Half you and half her. Like your heart, it will be half good and half wrong. All your children have been born that way, and your woman has given them so much love. They all have good hearts now. Even the ones that you want to teach to kill like your father taught you. Their mother’s goodness will always touch them. Callie’s heart is pure. It has been since she was born. She was blessed by the angel of love the night she was born. She had to be blessed; the parents that she had, had no attachment to give her. They were both afflicted with addictions and greed. There was no goodness there. She was blessed with a godly elisee. Her god, not the god worshipped today in the big churches. Her uncle was also a savior for her. He was her brother Tommy’s best friend. The uncle and nephew were close in age. Tommy had a heart like Callie’s, and he is in a good place in the afterworld.” The woman is quiet for a minute, and I feel something wrapping itself around my torso, around my arms, and my legs. I can’t move. “You see how helpless you are from us. You are subdued without me even looking your way. Keep your sharp tongue silent, or we will do this the hard way. We could have Callie here watching this. I don’t want to hurt her needlessly.” I stop trying to fight the restraints.

“What do you want from me?” I ask the woman.

“Oh, your words are soft now. That is so delicious to my soul. You broke the rules, and your heart is not pure, but your heart is not pure evil either. Trick or treat? Which do you deserve? I think your just punishment is to lose the one you love. Your soulmate. Your world. You, Devil, must choose a partner or one of your children tonight. You told Callie that you don’t want any more children with her. It broke her heart even though you swore you would never hurt her heart again. How easily you forget the words that you declare. The promises that you have made to Callie, and then you took them back in the name of club business. No one with a pure heart deserves that. Will you give up a child, or will you give up your woman? I need an answer now.” This woman is crazy. I wouldn’t even consider either scenario. My entire family is my life. If I could have a retake of tonight, I would tell Callie I would give her the twelve children we both wanted when our marriage began. We both wanted that, not just her. I hope she knows how much I love her.

“I choose me. I give up me. I would never put a child of ours in danger. It is my place to protect them all. If one of our children were gone, then I would lose Callie, too. She wouldn’t live after losing a child. I choose me. Take me and throw me in any dimension that pleases you. Please don’t harm my family. I will give you my soul; do as you may with it.” I plead with the woman. I feel dizzy, and I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. I think that my energy has been drained from me, and my eyes flutter shut.

THIRTEEN

Callie

I wake beside the sparkling lake. It shimmers under the moonlight. I must have been more tired than I thought. I need to get back so Kylar doesn’t worry. We can discuss our problems before we climb into bed together, and I will fall asleep in his arms as I have for nineteen years.

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