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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0OpvmoFTE
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSylX2PpN1
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFSRcED6Vd
You bitch.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gj03x9vFN
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCddHqZRM9r
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIEAbKJDAQ
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpLBNzU4aS
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhvBumvg1N
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLju38b61H
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVktGyIhoV
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppLIHKbMmP
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffiRgLUK9z
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxpVoWl8Cu
How the hell does she know all this?124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC25AIhHlrd
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.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvOyP2eAv5
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxr4yfOoFt
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzThg81okBX
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMDWZ0faqQ
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JNuMHOr0k
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI36T9dA9ie
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTSVzI7WYU
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1plOmnR19
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrly4dN92TX
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWnucmMAOb
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccp97mp3Q3
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.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcd1d28IGkn
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUj2s2O12c
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXT4xmgIOX
“Yes.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQmScRWHMG
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboNqE3Us6E
“Yes.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkB7L9OqlmF
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4a3riU6TK4
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgPiEX07YX
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvJ8jYCMCb
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFcwjSVBvWA
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. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdbBgMb9Jc
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2hqcrCM1V
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdejoZvaSFl
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3pD4LoDmS
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMDJT0Pc8p
“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.” 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNucBQub0J
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.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2J1luPLlDT
But I know it’s just beginning. 124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHLjpAWBKq
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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