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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡie0XQzLnET
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxF2NslbxA
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG5PRHbD2p1
You bitch.159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBFboiptfr
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5yz5aECah
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7Ysdo646h
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1vWvMBdAd
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjXAXFXP4x
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmDtCofc30
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3mZCxdRlD
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OKrStTAfw
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIxDF56JQl
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1GO7y5WLH
How the hell does she know all this?159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VhNJwPr5U
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.159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIviK2PMvU
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQrmMOk54z
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzUyTfeoC8
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOeEfxWQNS
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xpcM3Xf2V
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj76n5gyyLb
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbN0GetkNfi
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8j33KRrQ3
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1Z7bUXnp9
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqxPytMxtR
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNXlyXSYYb
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.159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyECG8H3cl4
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpX4DEFBzSP
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9oAok5V9Z
“Yes.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCB8cSd7qf
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCY4CpuYSo
“Yes.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAty0Ik3GEC
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fXx4VJdDt
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdNd4QV6U3
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zN30ZL4ml
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡje5wyd52B8
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. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡglV3XPtLqA
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqXJMF2js8
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyMNgw9IYX
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5shKI1p4D
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmd8FldcDHf
“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.” 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRt48uZpHm
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.159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBpe6xbYQx
But I know it’s just beginning. 159Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVj3Cbuelns
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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