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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeOQk6nKy6
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkOYPon423
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnd4NGgkrB5
You bitch.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZaX8xLwem
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jbF6hpdn6
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhNWQA942p
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTumkrpxseV
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNT5uyed1o
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaXGmU5QVQ
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9H5bbV9tu
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpLWXCwHrR
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhAKGNeJcl
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipoU9uQRq9
How the hell does she know all this?110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHyxuAU9zE
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL04IzlKTpz
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQk1CAwcCH
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHcMdx7We5
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzMhNQblXf
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqho2t22bOc
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHQrWGs55E
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwnmP8COe8
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33Pmut0FCL
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCg0DaQ7Im
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15hnAGvcyp
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JXTf6za50
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQ4wU3dexU
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2stWIPCeB
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiO6VJK6E0
“Yes.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4sgb1morp
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TqmGw6iHN
“Yes.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1CrqZGQhT
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7pqZvF4Jx
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y7CMcUJ9s
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaGduDtVMP
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89rdy3mowZ
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. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFBHUo3fbp
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQSE5kpsR4
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8CJbdgHsQ
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VAZJCJcJc
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctkEnFbS91
“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.” 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgq0VtbGTVG
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.110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFgmIefBvT
But I know it’s just beginning. 110Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKWtup55aS
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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