RUSTY | frank castle

FIVE

Frank had Lieberman's throat in his hand, close to choking him. He was panting and his chest was heaving while his mind spun and circled with memories of memories of the things he had done, of the things David had said. Zubair. Honourable father. Cop. Frank's family. . . his family. The things he has done. The things that caused all this shit.

His mouth twitched, almost in a snarl like you see in a canine and his breath continued to come in pants as he continued pushing the Lieberman back by his throat.

"Are you gonna kill me?" He managed to say, his tone challenging.

"The thought crossed my mind." Frank mumbled fast. "It's crossing my mind."

"You're not gonna kill me."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, I know people. I'm an analyst." David continued to struggle. "It's my job."

Frank continued panting but said no more.

"You're not gonna kill me 'cause you're a good man."

"You. . ." Frank breathed heavily as he remembered the words 'good man' come from Rusty's lips. He closed his eyes and pushed the thought away. "You don't know shit. You don't know shit." 

The black mask. Orange. Pashto language. The slap. The stillness of the dogs. The tempo of his heart. The drip of blood onto the cement. The glance he and her exchanged in a split second. "Please I'm not a terrorist." 

"Family. Children."

Good man.

Bang. 

   •••  

LT. FRANK CASTLE.

Rusty looked at the graving in the stone. She should thank Curtis for the stone, but. . . he doesn't know she's really alive.

Curtis and Billy were gone now, they both didn't notice Rusty. They came and drank some cheap whisky and said 'happy birthday'.

She could barely see in the dark of the night, so everything was nebulous to her. It wasn't only the dark that made her vision hazy, but her tears, too. She probably cried only twice a year; on Christmas and on Frank's birthday. Both were the best times she's ever had, and both were with Frank. 

On Christmas, Maria would be so welcoming and would always insist that Rusty come over for dinner on Christmas Eve. Rusty would say 'It's a family holiday' and Maria would say 'you're family'. Rusty would say 'I have things to do' and Maria would just give her one of her mother-like looks, and she would end up at the Castle house anyways. Frank Jr. and his sister always got something for the dogs. One time, Rusty recalled, they got a squeaky pizza toy.

On Frank's birthday, the evenings were always spent with Maria over dinner in a nice restaurant while Rusty looked after the kids for them; whereas during the day, she always managed to organise some fun activity with the kids because she knew that Frank liked to be active but he also loved his kids to the death. One year, they went scuba diving in a giant fish tank where Frank got scared by the sharks. It was so funny, they all had to emerge from the water for air. They all enjoyed it.

Tears came flowing even quicker, but she didn't sob or wail. It was just tears and a pained face. She sniffled and her dogs nudged her legs. 

"Alright. I'm sorry." She wiped away the tears. "Okay."

She took the white rose that Lexi had been holding gently in her mouth, and placed it in front of the stone. She ran her fingers over the word 'marine' on his stone, remembering the time he hit Billy with Frank Jr.'s football for saying he couldn't read.