Three Devils

John murdered his wife when he found out she was cheating on him. He did not catch her in the act, but his friend Mike confessed over his ninth beer. He said their friendship was too important and he had to be honest. “Will you forgive me?” he said with glassy drunken eyes. John carried the burden of knowledge for days, and never commented on his wife’s excuses and little stories. She and Mike continues sneaking behind his back until John finally decided he could not take it any more. He got up early one morning, took a knife from the kitchen, and stabbed her in the neck and chest sixty-four times.

Mike seduced his friend’s wife part for sport and part to make himself feel better. He was losing his self confidence. As men do, at the threshold of forty. She was still attractive, her breasts juicy,  her lips keen, her eyes full of energy, and then full of passion. He did not break it off, even after he told the husband.

Jeb was a God-fearing man and he hated when people disrespected the Lord’s Good Word. God said it plain and clear: no adultery, no abortion, no homosexuality. That is why Jeb always shunned the sinners they showed on the news. Tales of caution, no doubt. He sneered at the story of two men and a woman who got tangled in the devil’s triangle. He knew God would take vengeance on their foul spirits.

When Jeb died, he met John and Mike in Hell. The three of them were waiting until a cell was prepared for them. They squatted for years in their own fear and shit, staring a the entrance to the dungeon, slowly merging into one self-hating creature.

Posted by: Paweł Kowaluk