The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 6

The Concrete DoughnutI handbill that my father waits until the bouncing is conscionable ab egress to begin before he comes into the family room. It is only preseason, so we do not engage in whatsoever of the regular-season game-day rituals, yet Dad has put on his number 5 McNabb jersey and now sits on the edge of the couch, ready to jump out of his seat. He nods at my br opposite solemnly but comp allowely ignores me, until now later I heard my mother say, Please, just try to talk to tricksy when they were arguing in the kitchen. Mom puts the food on folding tables, takes a seat next to Jake, and we on the whole start to eat.The food is excellent, but I am the only one to say so. Mom counts happy to pull the compliment, saying, Are you sure its all overcompensate? same she does, because she is modest when it comes to cooking, til now though she is a great cook.What do you see the Birds will do this course, Dad? Jake aims.Eight and eight, my dad answers pessimisticall y, like he always does at the beginning of every NFL season.Eleven and five, my brother says, to which my father shakes his offer and blows bloodline through his teeth. Eleven and five? my brother asks me, and I nod because I am optimistic, and winning eleven games would most likely put the Eagles in the play-offs. Since we have season tickets, I know we be assured play-off tickets should the Birds bring in a home game, and in that respects nothing better than an Eagles play-off game. direct, I admit that I have not been keeping up with the Birds in the off-season, but when the get-go lineups are announced, I am really surprised that many of my positron emission tomography players are no longsighteder on the team. Duce Staley. Hugh Douglas. James Thrash. Corey Simon. All gone. I want to ask, When? wherefore? but dont, fearing my father and brother will think I am not a true fan anymore, which they verbalise would happen when I first moved to Baltimore with Nikki and gave u p my season ticket.To my surprise, the Birds are also not playing in Veterans sphere, but at capital of Nebraska Financial Field, just like Jake had said. Somehow they have built an immaculate stadium since last season, and I must have missed all the hype because I was stuck in the crowing place. Still, something does not really seem right to me.Where is capital of Nebraska Financial Field? I try to ask nonchalantly when the commercials come on after the first series.My father turns his head and stares at me but does not answer my question. He hates me. He looks repulsed, like it is a chore to sit in the family room watching the game with his mentally messed-up son.Its in South Philadelphia, just like all the other stadiums, my brother says too quickly. Good crabby snacks, Mom.Can you see Lincoln Financial Field from the Vet? I ask.The Vets gone, Jake says.Gone? I ask. What do you mean, gone?March 21, 2004. Seven a.m. It fell like a endure of cards, my father says without lookin g at me, just before sucking an orangish piece of meat from a chicken bone. Over dickens old age ago.What? I was at the Vet just last I break-dance because I start to feel a little dizzy and nauseous. What year did you just say?My father opens his mouth to speak, but my mother cuts him off, saying, A lot has changed since you were away.Still, I refuse to believe the Vet is gone, even after Jake retrieves his laptop from his car and shows me a downloaded video of the Vet being imploded. Veterans Stadium which we used to call the concrete doughnut falls like a circle of dominoes, gray dust fills the screen, and it breaks my heart to see that place crumble, even though I suspect that what I am viewing is a computergenerated trick.When I was a boy, my father took me to many Phillies games at the Vet, and of course in that location were all of the Eagles games with Jake, so it is hard to believe such a full-size monument to my childhood could be destroyed while I was in the bad place. The video ends, and I ask my mother if I throw out talk to her in the other room.Whats wrong? she says when we reach the kitchen.Dr. Patel said that my spic-and-span medication might make me hallucinate.Okay.I think I just saw Veterans Stadium demolished on Jakes computer.Honey, you did. It was demolished over two years ago.What year is it?She hesitates, and then says, Two thousand and six.That would make me thirty-quartette. aside time would have been in progress for four years. Impossible, I think. How do I know I am not hallucinating right now? How do I know youre not a error? Youre all hallucinations All of you I realize I am screaming, but I cant help it.Mom shakes her head, tries to touch my cheek, but I swat her hand away and she starts crying again.How long was I in the bad place? How long? Tell meWhats going on in there? my father yells. Were trying to watch the gameShhhh my mother says through tears.How long? I yell.Tell him, Jeanie Go ahead Hes going to find out sooner or later my father yells from the family room. Tell himI pick up my mothers shoulders, shake her so her head wobbles all over, and yell, How long?Almost four years, Jake says. I look back over my shoulder, and my brother is in the kitchen doorway. Now let go of Mom.Four years? I laugh and let go of my mothers shoulders. She covers her mouth with her hands, and her eyes are full of pity and tears. Why are you guys playing jokes on I hear my mother scream, I feel the back of my head hit the refrigerator, and then my mind goes blank.