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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIZu7z8tdg
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYuATJafOZ
“It must be so hard,” Rebecca murmurs, “coming on the heels of your brother Buick’s. . .um. . .legal troubles.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5zUZBQVUU
You bitch.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75H5yCezt0
“My brother has nothing to do with any of this,” I snap, noting the warning look I’m getting from Holmlund. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZTfjf3jab
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjqhUgBLWt
Rebecca gives me a knowing, patronizing look than irritates the shit out of me. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5K3IR3bp0
Then she moves on to Blue, asking about Bootstrap and the plane crash and his decision to enlist in the Army. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ozRAtZVNa
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktI8GbDyc3
She knows that Blue and his dad had been estranged when Bill Daniels died. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNMqqM1pNR
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2clnG2RxEt
Rebecca Wolfe obviously did her research. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3j9rv0BgN5
For a second, we both just stand here with our mouths open. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaViBElTs29
How the hell does she know all this?156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNK65gagJyk
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.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun2KNHAXw8
Our interrogator speaks again. “So now, let’s talk about the girl in Afghanistan. And what happened to the other members of your patrol.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtG2umoQmDG
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplCLqzKJ15
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvPJO3DzDq
I’d once read an old newspaper article that mocked Ikana’s pretensions, contemptuously calling it the “Okie Ivy.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡou7vGN669m
During the interview, Blue and I are positioned in the most picturesque spots, the places that show up on the college’s recruiting brochures. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25U4Fpz4fC
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLbk3i0V8z
I can already see how it’s all going to be packaged when the interview airs. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Yu4YY9kYp
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoh5VrIJfQX
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMXjuvW2YM
It is probably going to be regarded as good journalism. Truth be told, it is good journalism. And already, I hate it. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnotRrjYCch
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.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0aaTYD0Cu
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNURn93qG4Y
“You lied,” she says bluntly. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLpH6yvmrU
“Yes.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnTVgFdcey
“You lied to your commanding officer, to those interrogating you. To your fellow soldiers.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUq1wJTHVK
“Yes.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62THsHiyHN
“You lied, again and again. You allowed that lie to spread. You allowed the families and friends to believe that lie.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmaETrclXT
“Yes.” His voice is just a croak, and his face crumbles. “I did.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJozPoQKXav
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnaD81OJzg
How the hell can he not be paying attention to this?156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BSFpkICrG
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. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hFXXfUZyX
So I close my mouth. But when I feel the camera focusing on me, I almost panic. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfdALesUbd
This is much harder than I thought it would be. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgn6LSlsxx
Finally, the interview comes to an end, and Rebecca signs off with some melodramatic bullshit. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJs6foIWrT
She hands off the mic and steps closer to us, giving us a warm smile that I do not trust. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdw97eVBui
“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.” 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPPqD53WRo
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.156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyZThYbPkw
But I know it’s just beginning. 156Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRP8SASTXR1
~~~
Thanks for reading Tangled Up in Blue! More coming soon. What do you think will happen to Blue?
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