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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvx9GgXX7H7
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnMqRB17ll
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkt2G6YyRhS
You bitch.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFQxhuRAau
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7R4qAlUcSk
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydZSzkii0X
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8NumSkn0eP
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGSglfWsEH
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuafHx5FZy0
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3iQOiOkDl
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvaSnn3JTW
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOke6Hbpf8E
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1Z7kpWlP2
How the hell does she know all this?97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SlT1JCzhs
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.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrQqKLHGmx
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPxCjY8poZ
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxjb8PFjRj
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJRl4G1Ksy
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39t2z3kzDp
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCO5HBD3pdF
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWqmpmis8z
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRh4vXGxfA
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGbVSu5B5N
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwTynIhKEf
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6V7EMmUzOP
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.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkCF2mQLTa
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7m6PCqHjGt
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcdiAhPEfi
“Yes.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8N1Ei78r9c
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3yn1K9Azq
“Yes.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpg4ea0uhG
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3dLKlnSEk
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUImaA4QVy
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcGmFejS24
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMr4vVA4Af
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. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pzFR3a1a8
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0iLjanhfH
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpugQ1CQZPF
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKrxqDUk8j
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OSIA9w5g8
“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.” 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBKMYfxwD0S
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.97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyECTKOS8oN
But I know it’s just beginning. 97Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTup5YQMUL4
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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