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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCSrEDcfo4
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7lN5lQexP
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRbMI7wgcA
You bitch.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9KphCn97p
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnhyKm0bMT
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yXanQWPKX
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbiNcyblRh
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuRYvMLhgs
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjn6SObMjhd
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhpFYBBR0U
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeK4ukWl6T
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyENwAUq1S
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpqTROIZSC
How the hell does she know all this?122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VZd7fjFWH
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.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLZ2EnBdnPp
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwoe9KBX18
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWto2nAUr1P
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpVcgOEgKN
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Jko6eaVmn
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDxml7RlrR
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnujNtWOHX
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5E1KIPkfSX
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynNgcHAw51
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjx2QadnBic
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQ3yUWCUgT
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.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiVveI7EUh
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRL3txS4p8
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwvvD62QEq
“Yes.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4JGBmQsYi
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImyJQJ9Zvr
“Yes.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxHKetCFEU
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIl226UdPm
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvk9FVIxtV
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EHo6omPY3
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbJiuGK4ah
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. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrt94F46Ro
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iwTHIOxUv
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2A39eDWz7
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPtNVK9PDb
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQksYSNyGR
“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.” 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfkb0I3T7B
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.122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeFUhsN0Vx
But I know it’s just beginning. 122Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUGs9rU1ej
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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