Keegan
Blue and I spend the next hour walking slowly around the Oval with Rebecca Wolfe, answering her questions while the camera zeroes in and Holmlund and Allie the producer trail behind.
Rebecca asks about our families. Her voice is sympathetic when she mentions the death of my mother and the demise of Blue’s father.
But her tone turns pointed when she brings up Virginia and her role in all this, and I soon start to seethe. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpU5OdxMKn
She’s trying to imply, without coming right out and saying it, that somehow my grandmother is helping Blue evade justice. And that’s a lie. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJViY4eJ1Hd
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcRzmCpIQZ
You bitch.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8yixK3R4c
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1od6NrQbGO
I start to say more to defend my grandma, but then I swallow my words. Virginia is used to dealing with the press and she has plenty of resources to stand up for herself. She doesn’t need me to do it. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrginMC7ZK
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37WyG3q3SS
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoIrR50bP3
She seems to know that Blue’s father wanted him to work for Bootstrap and follow in his footsteps, and that Blue turned his back on all of it. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JruBVG1HI
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1M33eVDY9
She even somehow knows about Blue’s guitar, an apparent peace offering that arrived in Afghanistan only a week before the crash that ended any chance of a reconciliation between father and son. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxur5qTwx7
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTPsAbgyGO
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWAA4fEeA2
How the hell does she know all this?98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvf1CJFjQA
I see the flash of bewilderment and then anger on Blue’s face before his expression turns to stone. I’d let go of him as we walked, but now I weave my fingers through his again and squeeze his hand, trying to silently console him.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNqI6YD4lx
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPb55SOGt0C
We’ve already made the circle twice at that point, lingering occasionally in front of the Gothic-style buildings that line the Oval as Rebecca and Allie maneuver us into various shots they want. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjUCQRGIssp
When Ikana was established in the sixties, its founders wanted it to one day be considered Oklahoma’s version of an Ivy League school, so they’d built it to look like one: stone walls splashed with acid to make them look old, pointed arches, fancy carvings. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3kZFlt7T1
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzk7wffMCqe
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5UOQ1Cjjq
By the time we’re standing in front of the elaborate fountain that anchors the Oval, with rubbernecking students streaming around us and gawking at Rebecca, I’m feeling sick to my stomach. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwotx69eLBS
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMGL8VWj1K
There’ll be a dramatic soundtrack, and Blue and I will be portrayed as a tragic, modern-day Romeo and Juliet. A collage of contradictory images will be added to the effect: leafy, insulated Ikana, the carefree college party house, the war zone of Afghanistan, the real-world deaths of three American heroes. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbZN4Sp1y8Y
It’ll probably be hard-hitting and mesmerizing: love and ambition, sex and sacrifice, death and dishonor, all taking place among two powerful Oklahoma families. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbHwvuGp3A
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROmHZZ0BfP
We stand in front of the fountain for half an hour. Blue does most of the talking, his voice veering from calm and almost aloof to quivering, on the edge of panic.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbznhn9fJZc
Rebecca’s persistent questioning takes him back, over and over again, to the attack that killed Monti, Cunny, and Hud. And she keeps focusing on Blue’s actions in the days after. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxTFKFn767
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4Bkzt2FgJ
“Yes.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVL90fsQwa
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7gbmlXdcC
“Yes.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjA1qKWqcf
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8IJrU8JfJ
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KHEgppP9x
I glare at Rebecca, then look over at Holmlund, wanting him to intervene. But he is on the phone, walking around in a circle several feet beyond the fountain and waving one arm around a lot. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH38ZxpA4lG
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNQT7YjVP5
It’s like watching a vulture pick at the open wound of a loved one as Rebecca’s questioning intensifies. After a while, I start to come to Blue’s defense. But he squeezes my hand and shakes his head slightly. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXMyungNt3
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AZdn24GYO
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXpAEJlWNA
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSDMxBBLUF
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSwfCGfaNy
“I know that was difficult,” she says softly, looking from Blue to me and back again, “but you both did really well. I tried to be even-handed, but I had to ask the hard questions. I hope you understand.” 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQhHwCW0kz
Blue’s face is expressionless as he unclips his mic and hands it to Rebecca. “I’m just glad it’s over with,” he says, his voice wooden.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqLx860hr3
But I know it’s just beginning. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT85yz6h8w
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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