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Three Years Later…
Keegan
It’s been three years since Blue was taken away from me. Three agonizingly long years. But it’s almost over now.95Please respect copyright.PENANAEJW6K1SyJf
It could have been a lot longer. Blue was originally sentenced to eight years in prison. Eight years. Just thinking about that now makes my stomach drop.95Please respect copyright.PENANA1pO10CNCym
I cried out when the sentence was read in the courtroom. Like a fool, I screamed at the panel that convicted him. I screamed at the judge. I couldn’t control myself. The sentence seemed so unfair, so pointless.95Please respect copyright.PENANAhcu0WnDYkO
Naturally, I was thrown out by the bailiff. So I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Blue before he was taken away.95Please respect copyright.PENANAxNJRvRe6lr
Devastated, I went home to my room at the ranch. I curled up into a ball on my bed and stayed that way for the next week.95Please respect copyright.PENANAigHgx72A1t
I didn’t bathe; I barely ate. I just wanted to sleep all the time, to dream that Blue was right next to me, tangled up with me.95Please respect copyright.PENANAD7ZsBRRita
I didn’t want to see or speak to anyone. I was mad at the Army, mad at the world, mad at God.95Please respect copyright.PENANA1MbnFBFcEI
Most of all, I was so goddamn angry at myself. If I hadn’t written everything down in my journal, none of this would’ve happened.95Please respect copyright.PENANAsdBPmfokO5
I didn’t see any way to go on. Not without Blue. Not for eight years, without Blue.95Please respect copyright.PENANA2MB5ChsIQA
When I finally emerged from my self-pitying coccoon and started acting somewhat sane, Virginia gave me the letter from Blue.95Please respect copyright.PENANAJAp8JcgzHf
He’d intended for me to have it right away. But Holmlund was worried how it would affect me. So he gave the letter to my grandmother and asked her to give it to me when she thought the time was right.95Please respect copyright.PENANAMhbmMryp26
I was pissed that she held it for so long. More than pissed. I was fucking furious at both her and Holmlund. How dare they make that decision?95Please respect copyright.PENANAeNylC2ltE5
I screamed at my grandmother. I told her she had no right to withhold the letter from me. I stormed out of the house and into the barn, saddled Okie and took off at a gallop with the letter still unopened in my jeans pocket.95Please respect copyright.PENANAMFbwAGNbyR
I didn’t read it until I reached the cabin. I went up to the loft, to the bed where I’d spent so many nights with Blue, ripped open the letter, and read it through, slowly, three times.95Please respect copyright.PENANAdUAGT8sWhJ
Then I cried for what felt like forever.95Please respect copyright.PENANACsa1MGODPQ
But after that, I got angry at Blue. I mean, I understood what he was trying to do. He was thinking of me, of what he thought was best for me.
But did he really think I would just walk away and forget I ever knew him? Did he really think I could do that?95Please respect copyright.PENANAVnvTI7CcIc
By the time I headed back toward the house, it was dusk. I took it slow, giving Okie his lead, moving at a gentle pace through the dark. I cried a little more, thinking about my romantic ride through the darkness with Blue several months ago. It seemed like another lifetime, when we did that.95Please respect copyright.PENANA5ZVjWsgLPI
But I also started thinking about something Holmlund told me earlier when he called to check on me and Virginia literally had to force the phone into my hand.95Please respect copyright.PENANAXCAYrvWUO1
“Keegan,” Holmlund said, “do you remember I told you the day the verdict was read that it wasn’t the end, that I still had some tricks up my sleeve?95Please respect copyright.PENANAEppWp7rNYz
I didn’t answer: I just stood there silently, sulking like a baby. But I was listening.95Please respect copyright.PENANAaNsIcRSAhc
Holmlund went on, telling me about the Army Clemency and Parole Board.95Please respect copyright.PENANA8nCb8dNqDE
“After nine months, Blue can request clemency from the board. That means his sentence could be set aside completely or at least reduced, if we can convince the board that he deserves it.”95Please respect copyright.PENANAecOowDBy4s
And that lit a little flame of hope inside me. Clemency. If anybody deserves clemency, it is Blue Daniels.95Please respect copyright.PENANAyDTgJV1ln1
First though, we had to get through the initial nine months.95Please respect copyright.PENANA6SW7HvYTwd
It took two months before I was allowed to visit Blue at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. That’s because at first, he wouldn’t sign the permission form to have me cleared to come to the prison.95Please respect copyright.PENANA5hQbixJexf
He wouldn’t even make the collect call to the ranch that he was allowed once a week. He called his mother, but not me.95Please respect copyright.PENANA1jiU3C4ZBO
He was applying tough love, I guess. He wanted me to do what he’d asked me to do in the letter. He wanted me to walk away.95Please respect copyright.PENANAKLLJNuTnDW
But I was not going anywhere. And I was going to make Blue talk to me.95Please respect copyright.PENANAbdJZk8Pesg
So I drove to Tulsa, to his mom’s house. A sympathetic Maria had told me when he was supposed to call her, and when he did, she answered and then handed the phone to me, walking away to give us some privacy.95Please respect copyright.PENANAA6boHdfSc0
I just stood there for a minute, holding the phone, debating what to say.95Please respect copyright.PENANA0eXvSz18V5
“Hello?” I heard Blue say. “Mama?”95Please respect copyright.PENANAGBLn8VpFpu
Then I exploded. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”95Please respect copyright.PENANAoBq5UZgj2X
Silence on the other end. And then, finally, his voice, weak and uncertain. “Keegan?”95Please respect copyright.PENANAXZg7aKtdlm
“Answer my question!” I snapped. “What is wrong with you? What do you think you’re doing, cutting me out like this? Do you know what it’s doing to me, Blue? Do you?”95Please respect copyright.PENANAw3aIchgx1r
He didn’t answer, so I barreled on.95Please respect copyright.PENANAwPSahjgEPV
“How dare you send me a letter like that and then just expect me to walk away. Like I could even do that. What the hell were you thinking, huh? And, then, then, you pull this crap of not letting me come see you, not calling me?”95Please respect copyright.PENANAwZbAmW1EFb
He was still not responding, and I was working myself into a frenzy.95Please respect copyright.PENANAV9FNZMl2Xc
“You’re just a . . . a stubborn jackass! I’m not going anywhere, do you understand me? You are stuck with me. If I have to drive up to that prison and stand outside all day, every day, ‘til you sign that form, I’ll do it. You are not getting rid of me that easy. So don’t even think I’m walking away from you!”95Please respect copyright.PENANAG1tGJ5ybpG
Still, there was silence. I began to wonder if he’d hung up. But listening closer, I could hear his shallow breathing. The kind of breaths you take when you’re crying.95Please respect copyright.PENANA3EZdTsYjeb
“For God’s sake, Blue, say something!”95Please respect copyright.PENANAUDLmhP3hjY
There was another long pause. “Eight years is too long, Keegan,” he finally said, sighing, his voice small and miserable. “It’s just too long. I can’t let you wait around for me, don’t you get that? I can’t do it.”95Please respect copyright.PENANAFysI82Fftw
“You have no choice. Do you get that, Blue? You. Have. No. Choice.”95Please respect copyright.PENANAViDxYYUbey
My body couldn’t decide at that moment whether to start screaming again or break down crying.95Please respect copyright.PENANAYlHM63CN7P
“I’m waiting.” Now I'm half shouting and half crying. “And you are not shutting me out!"95Please respect copyright.PENANAuzNNpNOJaS
I let my words hang there a moment. Then I went on a tad more calmly.95Please respect copyright.PENANADAl0UazBV0
"Besides, it won’t be eight years. Don’t you remember the clemency board Holmlund talked about? We already have a plan on that. So don’t think you’re getting rid of me. I told you, I will come up to that prison and stand outside of it every fucking day until you let me in. And I mean it!”95Please respect copyright.PENANAWRBycbZbHX
He did eventually sign the form, and Maria and I started taking turns driving up to see Blue. And he started calling me at the ranch as often as he could.95Please respect copyright.PENANAVjgbg3AQ3F
It wasn’t nearly enough. But it was better than nothing.95Please respect copyright.PENANAd1lGZKk7dv
And that’s where Blue's music started to help. It was out there, being consumed, being shared, moving hearts and minds. Frasier Bryson was doing everything in his power to tell Blue's story, to advocate for him.95Please respect copyright.PENANAVhHGoUiSHy
At the same time, Virginia was pulling political strings, calling in favors.95Please respect copyright.PENANA7Xx2yxESQ4
All of us—me, Holmlund, Virginia, Maria, Bryson —threw ourselves into the effort to get clemency for Blue.95Please respect copyright.PENANAUPVNUlbDHq
His conviction generated headlines around the world, and we did everything possible to keep his name and face and cause in the public eye for those nine long months before he could apply.95Please respect copyright.PENANAs8EPK6lLdO
And public opinion started to change. You could feel it.95Please respect copyright.PENANAmTAbR9LwaT
I mean, there were still plenty of haters out there. I tried to avoid seeing the venom online. We still had to be careful with our own security.95Please respect copyright.PENANAvSuDvJgA9V
But by the time Holmlund filed an appeal with the clemency board, public sympathy for Blue seemed at an all-time high.95Please respect copyright.PENANAPSVq1Ugdkx
And when the board met, Cunny’s mom miraculously showed up to speak on Blue’s behalf, saying she believed clemency was what her son would want.95Please respect copyright.PENANAC4tSnnjJbg
Blue broke down and sobbed as she spoke. So did I.95Please respect copyright.PENANAnecDaByzcz
Even with all that, though, it took almost a year. The board dithered and delayed its decision. Holmlund said there must have been some strong opposition to granting Blue clemency.95Please respect copyright.PENANAUfXjzEXunt
But finally—finally—we got word he would be released just after his three-year incarceration date.95Please respect copyright.PENANAAjJETjpjhI
And now, I’m on the highway, almost to the Leavenworth exit. I’m going to pick him up, bring him home to the ranch.95Please respect copyright.PENANAnGFZtl8yLW
Maria was kind enough to let me come by myself, to give us a little time alone together. She’s waiting at the ranch for him, along with Bryson.95Please respect copyright.PENANAEBH3T4H9Cl
They’re a couple now. I guess when they met, they made an instant connection. Kind of like me and Blue.95Please respect copyright.PENANAZOmbVNVtw1
They were scared to tell Blue about it at first. They didn’t know how he’d react. But he’s been okay with it. In fact, I think he’s thrilled.95Please respect copyright.PENANA7KknxgyO7a
“Who would have thought?” he laughed in our last phone call. “Bryson and my mom.”95Please respect copyright.PENANAOzTahiaQkS
I’m beyond excited to get Blue out of prison. My body and my soul have ached for him every day, every second, that’s he been away. I’ve driven myself crazy thinking about what he’s gone through at Leavenworth.95Please respect copyright.PENANAHibt7UioHj
I can’t wait for him to touch me, hold me, make love to me. I want him to be rough and tender and crazed with passion and wild with adoration, all at the same time.95Please respect copyright.PENANAKwKUpdLlGO
But I’m also nervous about our reunion. About how it will be between us. Three years is a long time, and inevitably, we’ve both changed.95Please respect copyright.PENANAInNhPlqLYD
Blue’s sadder, more introspective. I can see it in his eyes when I visit, hear it in his words.95Please respect copyright.PENANA7O0B7Rw5jL
He’s been a model prisoner, teaching music classes to inmates, writing more songs. He’s a better, stronger person now, I think.95Please respect copyright.PENANAqVs5rwR1yk
I’ve changed, too. At least I hope I have. The last three years have helped me grow up.95Please respect copyright.PENANAVX3hycKsBr
I’ve spent a lot of my time with my grandmother, helping care for her. That nagging cough that’s dogged her was diagnosed as lung cancer not long after Blue’s conviction.95Please respect copyright.PENANA6cKt0hKeHn
Just when it felt like we were getting closer, building the kind of relationship we should have had all along, I may be about to lose her.95Please respect copyright.PENANAt2ocJyVkEp
I don’t know how much longer she has. The doctors say probably not more than a year. But they don’t understand what a tough old bird Virginia Cooke is. She may surprise us all.95Please respect copyright.PENANANEcuBAwTLv
She’s still prickly, still regularly gets under my skin. But I understand her a lot better now.95Please respect copyright.PENANAVgcee9t52B
I’m about to finish my degree at OU. I couldn’t bring myself to go back to Ikana, assuming they’d have let me come back. It just wouldn’t be the same.95Please respect copyright.PENANAKoplvZyv7R
And I’ve applied for law school. Not because my grandmother wanted it, but because, after what we’ve experienced, I’m a lot more interested in becoming a lawyer than I ever thought I’d be.95Please respect copyright.PENANAQ8hN1ACJfr
I might still go into journalism. But I like the idea of having a law degree as well.95Please respect copyright.PENANAfTbxU2bBUi
In a surprising turn of events, my brother is now a student at Ikana. Buick is apparently breaking hearts all over campus.95Please respect copyright.PENANAFUsXMAYKad
But that’s another story.95Please respect copyright.PENANAIDZrueRITn
I see the Leavenworth sign up ahead and turn on my signal.95Please respect copyright.PENANAvmvd3D0T81
“I’m almost there, Blue,” I say. “I’m almost there.”95Please respect copyright.PENANA9LhnE16OIZ
~~~
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