Keegan140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagGNGgRnjc
“This is a story about love. And about hate.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgx6h0zvMwx
Rebecca Wolfe’s lush voice rises and falls as she looks into the camera; it almost sounds like she’s reciting a fairy tale. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmYHydKiUO
But it’s not a fairy tale. She’s talking about real people, real problems. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZEUmsLDni
“This is a story about ambition and power,” Rebecca goes on, “heroism and heartbreak. It’s about two young lovers—rich college kids—just getting started in life. And about other young people who will never get a chance to live their lives, go to college.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qnY42UXs8
“Young, brave men barely out of boyhood, men from disadvantaged backgrounds, who will never get married or have a child. Who will never grow old, never look back at all they’ve accomplished.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfhgSSbiFV
She’s really piling it on thick. Blue, standing next to me and holding my hand, flinches at her words.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbg9Iw15e3
We’re standing under a cloudy sky on the Oval, the center of campus. We’re just out of view of the camera trained on Rebecca, and we’ve been told to wait until she introduces us and then step into the shot together.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHatvlRnyY
“This is also a story about friendship,” Rebecca intones. “And betrayal. Courage and cowardice. It’s an almost Shakespearean saga. It’s about telling the truth. And about a terrible lie.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGjMBCmCgI
Holmlund, standing a few feet away, fidgets at her words.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeq6cX3IIHH
“Un…fucking…believable,” he says loud enough to be heard by the producer, a woman named Allie, who is standing in front of Rebecca next to a burly, bearded cameraman.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkeR7SkWNG2
Allie turns to glare at Holmlund, and he swells up like one of the scrappy roosters at the ranch.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXUrALP6Lp
“This is not what we agreed to,” he says in a stage whisper, obviously wanting Rebecca to hear him. He slaps his palm against his forehead and walks a tight, angry circle before continuing. “This is absolutely not what we agreed to.” 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSaX1meMp6
Allie moves toward Holmlund with her hands out, slowly lowering them as she tries to calm and quiet him. So, naturally, he raises his voice.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveCa1DqKEA
“Allie,” he says, “what the hell is this about rich kids and disadvantaged backgrounds? What are you trying to do? Set up some kind of rich versus poor angle?”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCV2ZtzdKGB
I look back and forth between Holmlund and Rebecca, who goes on speaking into the camera as her eyes shift ever so slightly toward her whispering producer, who is doing her best to contain our lawyer.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1VNtgCW9G
“Money has nothing to do with this story, and you know it,” Holmlund goes on. “I was promised an objective interview. And what’s stuff about a terrible lie? That’s editorializing.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ViMTuy7WG
Blue’s eyes are fixed on Rebecca, but I’m not sure he’s really watching her. He has that look he sometimes gets when he is seeing something other than what’s in front of him.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINBOPEEOXV
After another moment of Holmlund’s ranting, Rebecca drops her microphone. “Cut! Goddammit, cut.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCKBdSuCIF
She stomps over to Holmlund, her heels sinking into the brown grass. “What is the problem?” she snaps.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OYtf5rlk3
This close, I realize she’s older than I’d initially thought. Wrinkles brackets her eyes at the temples, and two heavy frown lines between her brows are in full force. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1YHiBlhtz
At least she hasn’t botoxed her face into an emotionless mask. As a public figure, the pressure to do that is probably intense. I like her a little better for resisting.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWlbnAdP8E
Until she opens her mouth again.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYchlobvBzD
“I told you up front that I would go where the facts take me in this story,” she says evenly, her gaze flickering over me and Blue before coming back to Holmlund’s contorted face. “And it’s a fact that these two had every possible advantage growing up and that the boys in Mr. Daniels’ unit, the boys who went out looking for him, who went out to save him from his own—”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcomkSCSdC
Holmlund and I start protesting at the same time, but Blue silences all of us with his quiet words. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQ8zXqtpo9
“That’s right. You’re right. I grew up rich. And Monti, Hud, and Cunny all grew up without much money.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3RuaE6QEF
All of us just stare at Blue for a moment.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCoaELFwCN
“But what I did,” he goes on, “and what they did, had nothing to do with money. I enlisted in the Army. I didn’t have to do that. I wanted to. I wanted to serve my country. And those guys didn’t have to go out looking for me. They wanted to find me and bring me back. They were my brothers. They were…”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQ9VQiekH2
His voice falters, and I loop an arm around him. Then I swing around to face Rebecca. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUKNwsHT4U
“Are you even interested in hearing our story, hearing the truth?” I hiss. “Or are you just looking to sensationalize it, turn me and Blue into some kind of friggin’ media circus? That’s not journalism, that’s just…just… pathetic.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkhMxPTRnX
Brilliant. Insult one of the most powerful journalists in the country, Keegan. Very strategic.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBclMXsKqt
“I think we may have to cancel this interview,” Holmlund piles on, shaking his head and shooting me a look. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBY0aYcbBzm
I guess I’m supposed to leave the verbal jousting to him. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGtV5Qq9wp
“It’s obvious,” he adds in the portentous tone I already recognize as part of his act, “that my clients are not going to be treated fairly.” 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQvIgw3SCn
“From a journalist of your stature, Ms. Wolfe, I expected an objective, open-minded approach. But this, this is the exact opposite of that.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGthiJWFbR
Again the grave, theatrical shake of his head. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHS1rGzTLIg
There’s no way he’s really canceling the interview. He’s just angling for better treatment. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9piiPxSqn
I can tell from the way Rebecca’s bright-red lips curve into a cynical smile that she’s not buying it either.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4v2Gn0WKYZ
“The stupidest thing you could do at this point,” she says calmly, looking only at me and Blue, “is to walk away. It’s too late to stop this story from getting out there.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3bbX7arHj
She pauses dramatically, studying her bright red fingernails. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrL8thcL8MM
“Whether you go through with the interview or not,” Rebecca goes on, “I’m doing a whole hour on it. Tonight. I’ve got other sources I can put on camera. I’m pretty good at getting people to talk to me.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57aoHeoICq
I can’t help taking a sharp, audible breath, instantly think about Megz. Would she really break the NDA she signed and risk getting thrown out of OU to appear on TV? Or could it also be people from Fort Sill? Lots of people there now know what Blue did. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjUpqvp7IX
It could even be the family members of the men who died. It’s inevitable some of them will give media interviews.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOop7A9psT5
But we were supposed to get our story out there first.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXjPCKgsOf
Rebecca turns back toward me and Blue. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IfNNLxDNY
“As for Keegan and Blue, I need a decision now on whether they’re continuing with the interview. We’re on a tight schedule here.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDk9VBpfTq
No one says anything for a long, awkward moment.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSlCnDJ7bx
“This story is going to be big,” Rebecca continues, ramming home her point. “The rich, powerful families involved, the life-and-death drama of it all. The love story. The media and public are going to eat it up.” Her voice has softens just a little.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjY5ofk9VEU
“Your attorney knows this,” she adds, her eyes raking Holmlund. “That’s why he called me. That’s why he desperately wants you to do this interview with me.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEvcX7OzlC
Holmlund makes some small, disagreeable sound, but we all know it’s just for show.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABUc0scnXO
“So let’s stop playing games,” Rebecca wraps up, her tone crisp, dismissive. “This is your chance to tell the world your story. After today, it’s not going to be a media circus like Keegan said. It’s going to be a media storm. I don’t think you two really understand what’s about to rain down on you.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35MkIOl6S1
I’m a friggin’ journalism major. I’ve followed the news as long as I can remember. Especially in the internet age, I do understand. And it scares the shit out of me. But I don’t want Blue to know that.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k86VrsO7a
And Holmlund is probably right. That media storm may be the only thing that can save Blue.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGYYH5jgcY
“You need to have the whole story—your side of it—out there from the beginning,” Rebecca says. “And there’s no one who can give you a bigger audience than me.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJQiibbHwW
It’s like the three of us are frozen. We just stand there. Not even Holmlund says anything. 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YIoliJF0C
“Still,” Rebecca sighs, turning on her heel, “if you’ve decided to cancel, that’s fine. That’s fine.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFnyoB5Dri
“Wait.” Blue tucks my hand into his arm as he says it and pulls me with him toward the camera. “We’ll do it.” 140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFettVmTyiL
He takes a deep breath, and then his whole body seems to deflate. “Of course we’re going to do it. I just. . .never mind. Let’s get it over with.”140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUAZ4bcxyh
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming up soon. What do you think so far? Please like, share and follow this story!
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