I HAD TEA WITH THE DEVIL
I checked my calendar, and I had an appointment at 3:33.
I was scheduled to meet the Devil and have tea.
The Devil and I had been friends all along…
He understood me, and I understood where in my life he belonged.
So, I made my way toward downtown…
Down Clematis, his favorite place—a place of immoral breakdowns.
I spotted him sitting on a bench, fully suited and dressed to impress.
He tipped his hat and nodded in approval at my dress.
You see… there’s something you need to know about my Devil friend…
He is beautiful and handsome to no end.
He is charming and has a smile to melt your heart,
But it is always clear he has no love—no heart—from the start.
He handed me my cup of tea and crossed his leg,
And simply said,
“Hello, beautiful. How have you been?
Keeping busy in this wondrous world of sin?”
He took a sip from his cup and stared into my eyes.
I coyly smiled and said, “Come on now, love, you’ve been apprised.”
And he softly bumped my elbow with his and whispered my way,
“I see that you have gotten away…”
I nodded, and tears flooded my eyes.
He placed his hand gently on my thigh.
Such a kind gesture from my Devil friend.
We sipped our tea as I saw my Guardians just around the bend.
You see, archangels were no secret to him…
He knew they were my protectors, and he knew our relationship was always grim.
“Where did he hit you this time, my love?”
“My back, my arms, and my hip—just above.”
He nodded in approval and said, “Not bad…”
I agreed and said, “Yeah, this time I really made him mad.”
“But there was something else that happened too…”
He curiously looked up at me and said, “Oh? What did he do?”
“He said something to our little boy…”
“You mean the one with your curls and excessive toys?”
“That’s the one,” I said.
“He told him a thing or two while he reached for him at the foot of the bed.”
“He reached out for his arms and begged him to stop…”
The Devil simply smiled and stared toward the shops.
“Daddy, please stop. Hug me,” he said.
“Daddy didn’t—and pushed him away instead…”
The Devil stopped and looked my way.
“Daddy!” he screamed once more… and this is what his Daddy had to say:
“Stop calling me that. I am not your daddy anymore.”
And I watched as my baby’s heart shattered onto the floor.
“I watched his innocence be stripped to none…”
“He did not care what he had just said to his son.”
“I am bad. I am not your daddy…”
While my son retreated and sat down sadly.
Tears streamed down my face, and I looked down.
I whispered to my Devil friend with a frown,
“I know this is your world, and I know these are things that you like…
But that destroyed me more than his fists and his fights.”
And the Devil put his cup aside and stood up in front of me,
Gently bent at the knee.
With his hands on my face, I could hear angel wings open in the distance,
And swoosh up behind me in an instant.
He looked up at them and shook his head ever so softly, and their wings came down.
He put his fingers under my frown.
He whispered softly to me,
“My dearest Elaine… you are now free.”
“This world is mine—that is true…
But what you have told me has done nothing but brew anger anew.
What he has said is not the kind of evil that I enjoy.”
Was the Devil really upset for my boy?
“That has surpassed evil—something I will never like.
For I have caused so much pain to my own father in spite.
However, he has never renounced his love for me,
Despite what popular traditions may believe.
He will forever be my father, and I his son…
And had he said that to me, I would have forever been undone.
I am evil, and I enjoy pain,
But this… this is beyond Abel and Cain.”
“No—this is wrong. How could he say such a thing to your son?”
I sobbed in his hands, and I was undone.
He pulled a handkerchief from his suit,
Wiped my tears, leaned in, and whispered in my ear,
“You do what you need to do.”
He rose and sat back down by my side,
Held my hand as my tears I dried.
“Stop crying. Drink your tea…”
I nodded, wiped my eyes, as the Devil continued sipping with me.
He took one sip more, and I saw a grin flash across his face.
He looked over and said, “Elaine, this will be his fall from grace.”
“I have a special place for him, just so you know too…”
“And...Also, the offer will forever be open, because once you get through this…
Hell will definitely suit you.”
This piece was originally published in With Love (2019), written after a dark and violent marriage came to an end. It was a time when survival looked like stillness...and clarity arrived in unexpected places.
With Love will be re-released in 2026.
