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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