Hell's Angel: Devil's Backbone (BK 2)

Stand by Me

Alison's POV
(bellamysgirl)

"I'd like to welcome our guest to the air waves this morning," Trish said, her voice smooth and clipped. "The writer of the wildly popular New York Bulletin article, 'My Punisher,' Alison Fletcher is here in studio with us. Alison, thanks for coming on."

I readjusted the bulky headphones and inhaled. "Thanks for having me, Trish."

"So, I think everyone's got some questions about what all happened in Hell's Kitchen this year, and they're probably all about you now, thanks to your article. What made you want to right such an in depth look at your relationship with one of the most feared people in New York City?" Trish asked. She gave me a supportive look, but she wasn't holding anything back.

"Well...if I had a dollar—or even just a nickel—for every person that told me something about Frank Castle that wasn't true, I'd be a millionaire by now," I answered, keeping my voice as even as possible. Trish watched me intently, curiously. "I didn't want to write up a bunch of excuses. But I also couldn't let people continue to believe lies."

"Do you mind if I read a paragraph from the article?" Trish asked, sitting up. She grabbed the newspaper lying in front of her on the desk and I shook my head. She turned to the article, leaning in as she read. "'You don't truly know what someone is going through unless you've gone through the same thing. I can't say that I have. Or that half the people in this city have. But I know what it's like to be a parent. Your kids become your world, your very purpose for everything you do.'"

She looked up from the page turning to me, "Now, you write in your article that you relate to Frank Castle hugely because of your son, as written here. Do you think any feelings you might have had for him came from sympathy alone?"

I shook my head. "Not likely, no. You have to think of him as two different people—Frank Castle, and the man coined The Punisher. They're separate and anyone innocent he'd ever come across has known him as Frank Castle. When you get to know him, you quickly learn there's more to him than just a gun and a sob story."

"Okay, now, I have to ask. I think every girl in the city is wondering—I know I am. Why? And, how? You wrote a lot of outlined events but, everyone's wondering- how on God's earth did a retired reporter from the Bulletin get roped into a steamy romance with New York's most wanted?" she asked, a small smile playing on her lips. "Everyone is calling you two a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast."

I chuckled a little at that. Beauty and the Beast, huh? That's actually kind of catchy, but not as accurate as you'd think. I sighed. "I...well, I don't think I even really know how or why. For me...I just know that he was a lot of things I needed. Knowing he wasn't actually insane helped a lot, though."

She hummed. "What do you say to the people that think you're insane?"

"I say...that you've been force fed a lie. The DA cover up is in the article, but people don't seem to really get it. They're stuck on the fact that he killed people but they never stopped to think about who exactly Frank Castle has killed. The Mexican Cartel, the Irish mob, and the Dogs of Hell. Do those three names sound like angels to you? I think you're all missing the point."

Trish nodded, her chin on her fist, her elbow on the desk. Once I'd finished answering, she sat up. "Regardless if you're crazy or not, I personally fell head over heels for this article. It's insightful, factual, and you took a huge risk putting this out there. Let's go to the phones."

After several phone calls, the interview was over, and I was driving home. Never in a million years did I expect an article to get me on a radio talk show to be interviewed. But I am more famous now, I guess. I think it's probably safe to say that most people don't like me. Oh, well. I don't like me either, so at least we're in the same boat.