Favor for a Favor

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Favor for a Favor written

Mary lay next to me in bed. She was so beautiful. I opened my eyes and checked the time. Shit, it was 10:40 p.m.! I needed to get home.

“Babe, go to sleep. I have the room until 6 a.m.,” Mary said groggily.

“I can't stay, babe. You know how the Dragon gets if I'm home late. I told her as I was putting in some extra hours at work.”

Mary let out a frustrated sigh. “I'm getting really sick of this, Terry.”

I pulled her close to give her a kiss and she dodged my advance.

“I'm serious. How long do we have to play this game?”

“Mary, I'm trying!”

“You're not trying hard enough,” Mary huffed, beginning to put her clothes on.

“Please don't be like that - you know how I hate her…”

“I don't know,” Mary cut me off. “You moan about how much you hate your wife, but it's been a year and you haven't divorced her, so you can't possibly hate her that much.”

“Mary, please you have no idea how much you mean to me. I hate my wife - you have no idea of the agony she puts me through.”

“So why haven't you left her?”

“My daughter means everything to me. I can't allow her to have full custody - hell, joint custody will break me. I just need more time to figure out my next move.”

“You're on the clock, Terry, and time is running out.” Mary grabbed her purse and left, slamming the door.

I stood there, naked and confused. I hurriedly dressed and headed home. I walked through the door and Angela was sitting her disgusting self on the sofa.

“I was worried! Why didn't you call?” Angela asked, getting up from the sofa.

“Dammit, I told you I had to put in some extra hours.”

“Oh yeah,” Angela chuckled softly. “Well, your dinner is in the microwave.”

I walked into the kitchen. grabbed a cold beer and took a swig. “Where’s Destiny?” I asked.

“She's sleeping - it's 11:30.”

“I know what time it is!” I snapped. I took the food out of the microwave and immediately felt disgusted. “Meatloaf again? Can't you make anything else?”

“I'm sorry,” she said. “I can make chicken instead.”

“Don't bother!” I finished my beer and went upstairs. I peeked into Destiny's room. My little angel was fast asleep. My moment of happiness quickly turned into annoyance when Angela came upstairs.

“Why do you hate me?” she asked. “I have been a good wife.” I said nothing and pushed past her to go back downstairs. She grabbed me and spun me around. “Why do you hate me?''

Rage began to fill my belly and I lashed out. “You make me sick. I don’t know why I hate you - maybe because you let yourself go. I'm only here because of Destiny.” .

“Why don't you just leave?” Angela yelled, beginning to cry.

“You think I'm going to let you get full custody of my kid or even joint custody? You must be stupid.”

A hateful look began to take shape on her face. “I'm leaving you.”

“Good. Take your stuff and get out of my house.”

“I'm taking Destiny.”

“Over my dead body, bitch!”

Angela took a few steps back. “I would feel better if you didn’t stay here tonight. Why don’t you go to that whore Mary’s house?”

I laughed and left. I called my boy, Mark, and he agreed to let me crash at his place. When I got to Mark’s place, he already had a beer in hand for me. I told him what happened.

“What’re you going to do?”

“I don't know, but I need to do something fast.”

“You know, the courts always side with the woman in these situations,” Mark explained.

“I know. I want her out of my life. I wish I could just kill her.”

Mark paused. “Are you serious about that?”

“Dead serious. It's the only option.”

“If you're really serious, I know a way. But it's going to cost you.”

“Tell me how!”

Well, you know I get my weed from the dark web, but I always see websites to hire hitmen.”

My heart skipped a beat. I wanted my wife dead. I knew this was extreme, but it was the only way to be free.

“How much?” I asked.

“Twenty grand.”

“I don't have twenty grand.” I sat back in my chair, defeated.

“Sorry, man. Murder don't come cheap.”

I stood up. “I need to clear my head.” I walked to the bar. I was sitting in a small booth in the back of the bar having a vodka tonic when an exceptionally beautiful woman in a red dress walked in. She surveyed the bar and, when our eyes locked, slowly sashayed over to me.

“Excuse me, sir. Mind if I sit with you and have a drink?”

Before I could tell her to fuck off, she was sitting down with a drink in her hand. “How the hell did you do that?” I asked, confused.

“That doesn't matter, Terry. What matters is that you have a problem that I can help fix.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I know a lot of things. For example, I know you want your wife gone and I can help you.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

She pulled me close, the smell of sulfur and ash assaulting my nose.

“Don't be rude or I will rip your arms out of your sockets and beat you to death with them.” She threw me back into the chair and began to fix her makeup.

My blood ran cold. “Who are you?”

“I go by many names, but you can call me Satan.”

I laughed. “Yeah, right. You're crazy, lady.”

Her eyes went from deep blue to all black. As I looked into her black eyes, I felt unimaginable pain and suffering. I began to cry.

“Now, now, pull yourself together. I'm here to help you.”

“What do you want?”

“To offer you some help. A favor for a favor.”

“I know how this works. You’re going to take my soul.”

Satan laughed. “Oh, Terry - you watch too many movies. I only take souls when contracts have been broken - and my contracts are pretty reasonable. I never just take. Humans have free will after all, so everything is given to me freely. I do many favors, unlike the guy in the sky. I'm more… grounded, ready to mingle with common folk.”

“How can you help me?”

“I know you want your wife dead.”

“Can you kill her?”

“Pump your brakes. - I just push the buttons to make it happen. What I can do is give you the scratch-off worth 20 grand and you can get that hitman.”

I hesitated as she moved closer to me to whisper in my ear.

“This is the only way to get peace.”

All I could think of was Destiny..

“How old is your daughter now? 12?”

“Yes.”.

Satan smirked at me. “I hope to have a child someday.”

“Wouldn't they be the Antichrist and bring death to the world?”

Satan laughed and said, “The world is already close enough to death without my child being born. So, what do you say?”

“What's the favor you require of me?” I asked.

“I don't need anything now - we will cross that bridge in about six years. Don't worry, I'm not going to ask for your soul or for you to kill anyone. It's just a small favor but understand that you cannot break your contract. If you do, I'm taking your soul, your side chick’s soul, and your little girl’s soul. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand. We have a deal.”

“Perfect,” Satan said with an abnormally wide smile on her face as she pulled out a little black book from her purse. I laughed as she rummaged through her book.

“What's so funny, Terry?”

“Well, you're the all-powerful Satan and you need to keep information in a little black book?” Satan's eyes glowed red and I quickly apologized.

“Okay, I need you to sign here.” Satan put the notebook in front of me.

“Got a pen?” I felt a pinch on my thumb and saw it was bleeding.

Satan smiled. “Just put your blood-print here and we can wrap this up.”

I did what she said, and she handed me the ticket. I looked down at it and when I looked up Satan was gone.

The next day, I cashed in my ticket. Mark and I chose the hitman. I sent my payment via Bitcoin.

A week later, I got a call at work saying my wife had passed away in a car accident. I felt relief take over my body. Destiny was devastated, but as time passed, she came around. Mary was amazing and my life was perfect.

Destiny grew up to be a beautiful young woman. She was off to college by the age of 17. Today was her 18th birthday and Destiny was coming home to visit so we could meet her new boyfriend. She nearly broke down my door.

“Daddy!” she screamed as I gave her a huge bear hug. ““I want you to meet my boyfriend, Steven.”

“Hello, Steven.” We shook hands. His hand felt cold as I looked into his icy blue eyes. He looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on where I knew him from.

“Nice to meet you, Terry,” Steven said with a wide grin on his face.

“You can call me ‘Mr. Andrews’,” I said.

Steven laughed. “Nah, I like ‘Terry’ better.”

“Why don't the ladies go bring us some coffee while the men have a chit chat?” Steven said as he put his arm over my shoulder.

Destiny and Mary hurried into the kitchen. I threw Steven’s arm off my shoulder “Listen, you little shit -”

“Now, now, I think you should be a bit nicer to me. You got the perfect life thanks to me.”

Stephen pulled me close to him. That putrid smell of sulfur and smoke assaulted my nostrils. I looked into Steven’s eyes and felt that same pain and anguish I felt six years ago.

it's you,” I said.

“Yes. I'm here to cash in my favor.”

“What's the favor?”

“I see you put that twenty grand to good use.”

“Just tell me what you want,” I said sharply.

“You have an amazing daughter, and I'm asking you for her hand in marriage.”

I felt sick to my stomach. “No, you can't.”

“You made a deal for a favor. You signed my black notepad. It's official.”

I didn't know what to say.

“Say yes,” Satan said in a low booming voice.

I began to cry. “Why Destiny?”

“I've been setting this up for a long time. I have archives of people throughout the world and when your daughter was born, I knew that she was the only one who can give me what I want: my child on this Earth. So, you see, Terry, I've been moving pieces behind the scenes to get what I want. When your miserable life is over, your soul is mine. You did participate in your wife's murder, so I'm going to get what I want either way.”

I dropped to my knees. “This can't be possible.”

“You know what will happen if you disobey me.”

He had me. ”Yes, you can have my daughter's hand in marriage.”

“It's going to be great, Papa,” Satan said as he pulled out a cigar and lit it.

My eyes bugged out of my head. “Is Destiny pregnant?”

Satan laughed. “No, no. Like I said, you watch too many movies. I can't just take what I want. It has to be given to me. Today is her 18th birthday. Today I will plant the Antichrist seed. Don't worry - there's perks to being the Antichrist’s grandfather.”