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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2OPDiZUyi
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg3kHh0R5l
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNC0Pp568Z
You bitch.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2U0hYPh0fN
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQxgCvodXr
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9DZpzC3NH
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXVWrZLiAk
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAUT1pScMh
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SfInG84Ii
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUu6Cs2KQb
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8mNvDgtZy
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPNTxH9q3g
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlt2mFcgZV
How the hell does she know all this?144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxyDeD8cuS
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.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdw5U6hawgD
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTAcIMzn0XW
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQ8H9pdL3Q
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtC0eXDibq
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnujZs73Mt5
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkXzOXhlZc
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCM3wepoFm
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixlWT7xIYg
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gOle7WVCF
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sJKpULAvG
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18BJCnaBzY
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.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpeGE1gJyN
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2FzNZD8XG
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0lulR35JY
“Yes.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrz3lmQQq4r
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWJ3G0gmbo
“Yes.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9IQaUbop8
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNg2SxuTYh5
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vF67H3PBW
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlzXG2IchV
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8Dl95itdl
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. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3I1ryar24b
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2LYWQfmls
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2anx4kUNDV
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiAcaNBDHG
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGVTlrQPxI
“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.” 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgga6ieOWnD
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.144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKZ1FiU8hC
But I know it’s just beginning. 144Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxaUcYiBkD
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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