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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQuIeIN3y9
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNROIKPh5b
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCyS7n8pey
You bitch.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6Kf97VQ1n
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgTiOYtKC7
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWn6x5xZBA
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4droadin6
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbqVCLKtGq
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KPOwDNhW5
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9LeAxpml4
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYShESKDrM7
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKATx2PVlaw
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtEzGvX1DJ
How the hell does she know all this?161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRvkqnqQn5
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgRjFh6rlT
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ68qZsLHlE
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq08NWG1bUx
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcbOBWUxYH
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbla9BQPvZv
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruso95ptQW
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbBhQ5IooB
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAU7eYcvRJ
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lKWIlxSIX
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWZ0cxOsK4
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5BRoxmmjZ
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HK4s1ZjVH
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9bpq27Ttn
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLK8bmS9iyr
“Yes.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0HBJ0RNGK
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLgUkQJbL5
“Yes.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwlMlW0xoS
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zNJUYeif9
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDKCYFbaX4
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMNVZyUkb2
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTtYiMooc1
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. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2BpoGPHZu
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cy9kQFwEL
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70pd1TcC9u
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYMbzsyLcV2
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCG4gzwzkl4
“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.” 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlh5RtpPyLc
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.161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuw0NCYPQuk
But I know it’s just beginning. 161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPW8SqpwgPN
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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