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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aQyOIYEfE
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpL5ueEqPA0
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OzJ1KG8iv
You bitch.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBoT59BjHr
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrjO9sGlls
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Yl4wIt87T
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTS8ZFbegSG
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttKoK3Vu9V
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAOnHOjMJg
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdLrmih1Zy
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZ3O9wMsec
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r06sKsnsj
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsu5Pr1sjOM
How the hell does she know all this?158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYfmELzbSM
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.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkl7mIGY9sR
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3PHVDhhkb
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExIXzktbqV
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQ2CYwsNYJ
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOvEnsjRhw
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡky1xiSDpnT
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjPPS1PQVJ
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGC34KU57T
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6D2tAJlCye
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPKSA1WH94
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdTXjM4SOv
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.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNYjXCMNmu
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3LDCwTNLx
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8jt3opecW
“Yes.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡId2Dw3fU2T
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgswH4CD5Ub
“Yes.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsx01BNQ5k
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmWXyqyI4Y
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OVs34pCxH
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuBsphFnAL
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZXLQbV8wN
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. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwZcRosZjE
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjQhymhW8V
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnahryVo9I
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXYMLTQ69S
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5c1S3sxVJW
“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.” 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeWXpltSS9
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.158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXrHZz7OwH
But I know it’s just beginning. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0e4sbpeFmc
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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