Keegan52Please respect copyright.PENANA5ifYSJv97W
“This is a story about love. And about hate.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAvvsJSZepGt
Rebecca Wolfe’s lush voice rises and falls as she looks into the camera; it almost sounds like she’s reciting a fairy tale. 52Please respect copyright.PENANAZZWt0aUTqu
But it’s not a fairy tale. She’s talking about real people, real problems. 52Please respect copyright.PENANA4pafhk0sHG
“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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAXTriHA786O
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAU5k6611Kn6
She’s really piling it on thick. Blue, standing next to me and holding my hand, flinches at her words.52Please respect copyright.PENANA5X82PM5Nmw
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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAkxtjukJpRk
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANARdjhMcyGYy
Holmlund, standing a few feet away, fidgets at her words.52Please respect copyright.PENANA3DVd7kpi93
“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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAkKG1gTpZEG
Allie turns to glare at Holmlund, and he swells up like one of the scrappy roosters at the ranch.52Please respect copyright.PENANA1B8bMXBEBa
“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.” 52Please respect copyright.PENANAC5eBOFaBaz
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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAX5TuFfHlZK
“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?”52Please respect copyright.PENANA8aRTb4n9Bq
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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAmn7bxOe9Nu
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAKPTch4SDaq
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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAdmaw3yOAyj
After another moment of Holmlund’s ranting, Rebecca drops her microphone. “Cut! Goddammit, cut.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAYymXSx6Z1I
She stomps over to Holmlund, her heels sinking into the brown grass. “What is the problem?” she snaps.52Please respect copyright.PENANAcdbU0WOzW2
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. 52Please respect copyright.PENANAnSHFraAN5P
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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAwvGBurEu2C
Until she opens her mouth again.52Please respect copyright.PENANAPZgRDJG4V0
“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—”52Please respect copyright.PENANAFXam5QwbPd
Holmlund and I start protesting at the same time, but Blue silences all of us with his quiet words. 52Please respect copyright.PENANA7PU5r8LIDp
“That’s right. You’re right. I grew up rich. And Monti, Hud, and Cunny all grew up without much money.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAnOWIzkDUt1
All of us just stare at Blue for a moment.52Please respect copyright.PENANAi7mXiaKEx7
“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…”52Please respect copyright.PENANAJzPvpSyQWW
His voice falters, and I loop an arm around him. Then I swing around to face Rebecca. 52Please respect copyright.PENANAiXe56FWdSH
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANA00j3QD2e9X
Brilliant. Insult one of the most powerful journalists in the country, Keegan. Very strategic.52Please respect copyright.PENANAI5JuCN1t11
“I think we may have to cancel this interview,” Holmlund piles on, shaking his head and shooting me a look. 52Please respect copyright.PENANACzBQBlKm3a
I guess I’m supposed to leave the verbal jousting to him. 52Please respect copyright.PENANAk1BjsfmbaA
“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.” 52Please respect copyright.PENANAPeC5Eblm5q
“From a journalist of your stature, Ms. Wolfe, I expected an objective, open-minded approach. But this, this is the exact opposite of that.”52Please respect copyright.PENANApchS2rrSYx
Again the grave, theatrical shake of his head. 52Please respect copyright.PENANADiusGcjdpy
There’s no way he’s really canceling the interview. He’s just angling for better treatment. 52Please respect copyright.PENANATPdsONWlRE
I can tell from the way Rebecca’s bright-red lips curve into a cynical smile that she’s not buying it either.52Please respect copyright.PENANAUmnA1uK6RG
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANADZueU76lhC
She pauses dramatically, studying her bright red fingernails. 52Please respect copyright.PENANARxnQRn82bf
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAWZuxTuKVNF
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. 52Please respect copyright.PENANAihqbHhkyvg
It could even be the family members of the men who died. It’s inevitable some of them will give media interviews.52Please respect copyright.PENANAPHn23KY18e
But we were supposed to get our story out there first.52Please respect copyright.PENANAwn2BC9CtjQ
Rebecca turns back toward me and Blue. 52Please respect copyright.PENANApgaeSGZuiU
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANASEqP3V0Zsw
No one says anything for a long, awkward moment.52Please respect copyright.PENANAvBBUrJcDpW
“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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAQNrEzIBLfX
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAQvp7DHwCZ1
Holmlund makes some small, disagreeable sound, but we all know it’s just for show.52Please respect copyright.PENANAt1Tutap2EZ
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAe5ZP1hjWrV
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.52Please respect copyright.PENANAJJIH1mjLjL
And Holmlund is probably right. That media storm may be the only thing that can save Blue.52Please respect copyright.PENANAUGgoTIvNKK
“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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAJCPOWPPuLv
It’s like the three of us are frozen. We just stand there. Not even Holmlund says anything. 52Please respect copyright.PENANANa0jylLbBs
“Still,” Rebecca sighs, turning on her heel, “if you’ve decided to cancel, that’s fine. That’s fine.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAX0JzfTebBh
“Wait.” Blue tucks my hand into his arm as he says it and pulls me with him toward the camera. “We’ll do it.” 52Please respect copyright.PENANApgEXIC0DIR
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.”52Please respect copyright.PENANAJnx3OjxVBK
~~~
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