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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sITODCfKD
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBX6oBXf9i
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVMljAmWiz
You bitch.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzwrRaIQ1tX
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeEEW2K04p
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHGonoJPg5
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3C19aW6nS
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsvFvwWPNj
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdFX6iQf4r
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuL2kFeEUEL
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUuPxdwjOj
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwviXl4E6W
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xRKLPxEhs
How the hell does she know all this?109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0OEdUU4Rp
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.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXqWZb0Pti
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZmHFJwqU4
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTLFlS4aCH
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYapHb86aSo
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXqUbqpeHHi
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDV7IwREV9
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75JubahqEt
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnrLd575sR
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIT3Igps6l
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ798972a0Tu
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSJjrcPDOC
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.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnCOWx4bTz
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEDP8RBBPr
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5TH1QR2Ad
“Yes.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKh8B4KGguv
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbnGgMK1pR
“Yes.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7oW0ZPp5T
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwbsKTRzcV
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0jat6VQCN
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSMGvOVMKI
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLZg6Uj9X6
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. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0mnZVSllb
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhqHtRcjGa
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvVN16wXej
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QGN6Jclqx
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SYC0mSgoh
“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.” 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0McpRiPDZd
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.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkkLp4TVT1
But I know it’s just beginning. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSH21MJ2Lz0
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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