THE DEVIL LIKES CANDY APPLES by johnny ngo
the boy was thirteen when he met the Devil.
the boy first saw her outside a candy shop. she was staring inside, eyeing the fresh cherry red candy apples. “they’re really good,” the boy claimed, “my mother knows her apples.” the girl kept her dark maple wood eyes focused on the window. it was difficult to tell if she was infatuated with the presentation of sweets or her own reflection. the way she wore her yellow headband did look perfect today. “do you want one?” the boy asked. she peeled her eyes from the window and turned to the boy. she gave a slight nod. the boy went inside and fetched her a candy apple.
the boy sat with the girl on the side of the street. she looked to be the same age as the boy. she wasn’t particularly pretty nor was she specifically ugly. she was normal looking, but there was something defiant in the way she carried herself.
“what’s your name?” he asked.
“the Devil,” she replied nonchalantly.
the Devil was enjoying every bite of her candy apple and the boy was enjoying her enjoying every bite. “do you want to know my name?” the boy asked. she shook her head. the boy was confused, but he didn’t care too much.
“where do you live? i’ve never seen you before. all the kids stop by my mom’s candy shop.”
“i’m from here.” she finished her candy apple and threw it at some pigeons cooing nearby. again, the boy was confused, but he shrugged. the boy was simple minded. he never spent more than fifteen seconds being confused or mulling over a question. if he didn’t understand, he would let it go. that’s why he never solved the rubik’s cube in his room. that’s not to say the boy wasn’t smart, he just knew how to value his time at thirteen.
“meet me here tomorrow? same time?” she asked. the boy nodded. he wasn’t doing anything. it was the first week of summer. it was the last summer before he would go onto high school and onto ambiguous beginnings. the Devil turned around and disappeared down the street. the next day the boy waited. his mother asked why he was standing outside the shop doing nothing when he could be sweeping. the boy told his mother that he was waiting for the Devil. the mother gave the boy a good slap on the back of the head and stepped back inside the shop. the Devil arrived right on time. she was wearing a floral dress with the same yellow head band. she asked if she could have another candy apple. the Devil watched the boy walk inside and grabbed one of his mother’s candy apples right in front of her. the boy’s mother gave her son a dirty look and briefly lectured him. the Devil couldn’t tell what the mother said but she knew the boy was going to be in trouble later.
the boy returned with the Devil’s treat. right after the boy handed the candy apple over, the Devil grabbed the boy’s hand and led him away. she whispered to the boy that she had something exciting to show him. she took him to see a dog that was run over on the street. only the posterior half of the dog was crushed, the anterior half was fine. the dog’s tongue was hanging out its mouth and onto the street. it was still panting. the sight of the dying dog made the boy turn around and run. he only ran half a block before his asthma stopped him. the Devil ran up to the boy and asked if he was okay. the boy was quiet, his lips were tight and jaw clenched. he refused to look at the Devil at first, but when he calmed down, he saw that the Devil had started eating her candy apple. the boy suggested that they leave and go to the arcade down the street. the local arcade was the boy’s favorite place to go when he wanted to getaway.
the boy and the Devil didn’t play any games. instead, they watched the older boys play and compete. the other kids glared at the boy for bringing a girl to the arcade. the boy ignored the glares, but the Devil didn’t. she shouted at them, “what the fuck are you looking at?!” the older boys were shocked, but not scared. they approached the boy and the Devil, threatening them to leave or they were going to kick both their asses. the boy shrugged. he grabbed the Devil’s hand and led the way. while walking away, the Devil flipped off the older boys. one of the older boys saw this and hurled his half-empty can of soda at them. the can knocked the boy straight across the back of his head. the boy was momentarily stunned, but he ignored the pain and left the arcade with the Devil.
they walked to a nearby park. the boy sat down on the grass and rubbed his fresh bruise. the Devil asked the boy if he was okay, but the boy was quiet again.
“are you mad at me?”
“do you want to get ice cream?”
“you still want to hang out with me? aren’t you afraid i’m really the Devil?”
“you’re not really the Devil?”
“how would you know?”
“I don’t know.”
“how do you know i’m not God pretending to be the Devil to test you?”
the boy paused for fourteen seconds and said, “i don’t care if you’re the Devil or God, i’d still treat you the same.”
the Devil fell silent. she removed her head band and scratched her head. she ran her fingers across the prickly teeth of her head band, checking its strength and quality. the boy didn’t understand what she was doing. he got up and dusted himself off.
“let’s get some ice cream.”
