The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 42

I Need a Huge FavorOn New Years eve day, after agreeing to buy unlimited beer for our neighbors, Jake manages to trade seats with the season-ticket holder in front of me and once Jake is seated, he props my cast up onto his shoulder so I am able to sit raft during the Falcons game.A fewer minutes into the first quarter, show coach Andy Reid pulls the starters, and the game announcer reports that D all in all(prenominal)as has somehow lost to Detroit, which means that the Birds relieve nonpareilself clinched the NFC East for the fifth time in the last six years and the current game is meaningless. Everyone in the Linc cheers, full(prenominal) fives abound, and it is hard to stay in a seated position.With the starting wide receivers out, I wee my hopes up for Hank Baskett, and he actually does interpret a few balls in the first half, each of which Scott, Jake, and I celebrate excessively beca enforce I am wearing my Baskett jersey over my winter coat, and we all like to a lkali for the undrafted rookie.Its 17 10 Eagles at halftime, and Scott actually leaves the game, saying that he promised his wife hed come home for New Years Eve if the Cowboys lost and the Eagles game became meaningless. I dedicate him a hard time round go forth and am surprised that my comrade does not join in with the ribbing. barely shortly after Scott takes glum, Jake says, Listen, Pat. Caitlin has me way out to this black-tie New Years Eve party at the Rittenhouse Hotel. She was mad at me for going to the game today, and I was sort of thinking about taking off early so I could surprise her. But I dont want to leave you here with the cast and all. So how do you feel about leaving early?Im shocked, and a little mad.I want to see if Baskett gets his second touchdown, I say. But you locoweed go. Ill be all right here with all the real Eagles fans the people who are staying to see the whole game. Its not a very nice thing for me to say, especially since Caitlin is probabl y already dressed and hold for Jake to come home, barely the truth is, I need my brothers help get out of the Linc on crutches. I have a feeling that Baskett will get the ball a lot in the second half, and I know Jake rattling wants to see the game anyway maybe hell be able to use his mentally ill brother as a vertical excuse for missing the first part of Caitlins New Years Eve party maybe this is what Jake really wants and needs. Beer man I yell to the Coors Light guy who is passing our row. When he stops, I say, Only one beer because this guy here is leaving his crippled, mentally batty brother to go to the Rittenhouse Hotel so that he can swill champagne with non-Eagles fans in tuxedos. My brother touch sensations like I punched him in the gut, and soon he is displace out his wallet.All right. Fuck it. Make it two beers, Jake says, and I smile as my brother sits down in Scotts seat and helps me prop my cast up onto the moxie of the empty seat in front of me.Through the s econd half, Baskett continues to catch A. J. Feeleys throws, and early in the fourth quarter my favorite player runs an out, catches the ball, and runs down the sideline eighty-nine yards for the second touchdown of his young career. Jake helps me stand, and then everyone in our section is high-fiving me and slapping my back because over my coat I am wearing the Baskett jersey my brother gave me when I first got out of the bad place.I would later learn that Baskett is the first Eagles player to catch two touchdown passes longer than eighty yards in the like season which is an accomplishment, heretofore if number 84 has only been a marginal player this year.And you wanted to leave, I say to Jake.Go Baskett he says, and then gives me a one-armed sideways hug shoulder-to-shoulder.After the Eagles backup players win the last regular season game, the Birds finish their season at 10-6, locking up at least one home play-off game in the process. I crutch my way out of the Linc with Jake as my fullback, parting the crowds, shouting, Cripple culmination through Cripple coming through Move out the wayWe dont meet up with Cliffs gang until we get back to the fat mens tent and the Asiatic Invasion bus. But when we do, our friends greet us with a Baskett chant because number 84 had a career-high 177-yard day and an 89-yard TD.With play-offs to discuss, everyone is reluctant to leave, so we drink beers and discuss the 8-8 Giants, whom the Birds will play in the first round. When Cliff asks me if I think our team will beat the Giants, I tell my therapist, Not only will the Eagles win, but Hank Baskett will catch another touchdown.Cliff nods and smiles and says, You called it before the season even started Hank Baskett is the manJake leaves first because he and Caitlin have that hotel New Years Eve party to attend, so we all flip fun of him and call him whipped but even though he is leaving us for his woman, I give him a hug and thank him again for staying, getting me a season ticket, and paying for the play-off tickets too, which are bewitching expensive. And I know Jake has forgiven me for making him miss the second Dallas game, because he hugs me back and says, No problem, brother. I issue you. Always. You know that.After Jake leaves, we drink beers for another half hour or so, but eventually many of the guys admit they too have New Years Eve plans with their wives, and I take the Asian Invasion bus home to New Jersey.The Eagles have won the last five games and the NFC East, so theres no stopping Ashwini from blowing the Asian Invasion bus horn when he pulls up to my parents house, and when he does, the chant blares loudly E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES which brings my mother to the door.Standing on the front step, Mom and I wave as the green bus pulls away.We eat a late New Years Eve dinner together as a family, but even after another Eagles win and with Super Bowl hopes alive, my father doesnt say much, and he heads for his study before Mom finishe s her meal, probably so he can read historical fiction.Just before the ball drops on Dads wide flat- overwhelm television, Mom asks me if I want to go outside and bang pots and pans like we apply to do when I was a kid. I tell Mom I dont really want to bang pots and pans, especially since I am tired from consumption the day outside in the cold, so from the couch, we watch people celebrating in Times Square.Two thousand and six becomes 2007.Its going to be a safe(p) year for us, Mom says, and then forces a smile.I smile back at Mom, not because I think it is going to be a good year, but because my father went to bed an hour ago, Nikki never came back, theres not even the slightest inclination to suggest that 2007 is going to be a good year for every Mom or me, and yet Mom is nonetheless sweating to find that silver lining she taught me about so long ago. She is still place on to hope. Its going to be a good year, I say.When Mom falls asleep on the couch, I turn off the televis ion and watch her breathe. She still looks pretty, and seeing her resting so peacefully makes me angry at my dad, even though I know he cant change who he is, but I inclination that he would at least try to appreciate Mom more and spend some quality time with her, especially since he doesnt even have the Eagles to be grumpy about anymore, because the season is already a success regardless of what happens in the play-offs, especially after making it this far without McNabb. And yet I know my father is not likely to change, because I have known him for thirty-five years, and he has always been the same man.Mom tucks her knees and elbows in close to her corpse and begins to shiver, so I push myself up, grab my crutches, and crutch my way over to the closet. I pull a blanket from the bottom of the closet, crutch my way over to Mom, and cover her but she continues to shiver. Back at the closet, I see a heavier blanket on the top shelf, so I reach up and pull it down. It falls on top o f my head just after I stress a little crash. I look down, and by my feet is a television receivercassette in a fresh plastic case that has two ringing bells on the cover.I crutch my way over to my mother and cover her with the heavier blanket.It is hard to pick up the cassette with my cast preventing me from diddly-squat I actually have to sit down on the narration to pick it up. After sliding over to the TV, I slip the cassette into the VCR. I look over my shoulder, checking to make sure that Mom is sleeping soundly, and then turn down the volume before I hit PLAY.The video is not solely rewound, and the part that pops up on-screen is the beginning of the reception dinner. Our guests are seated in the banquet room of the Glenmont Country Club, which is near a golf course in a swanky little town just outside Baltimore. The camera is focused on the entrance doorway, but you can see the dance floor and the band too. Using the micro retrieve, the lead singer says, Lets introduc e the wedding party Philly style, at which point the horn section of the band begins playing the opening notes of Gonna disappear Now The guitarist and bassist and drummer soon begin playing, and even though it doesnt sound exactly like Rockys theme song, its close enough to get the job done.Parents of the groom, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick PeoplesOur guests position politely as my mom and dad cross the dance floor arm in arm, and the painful expression on my fathers face suggests that this was one of the smite experiences of his life being announced at my wedding.Parents of the bride, Mr. and Mrs. George Gates.Nikkis parents do a little skipping routine into the banquet hall, making them look sloshed, which they were, and I laugh thinking about how much fun my in-laws were when they drank. I really do miss Nikkis parents.Bridesmaid, Elizabeth Richards, and groomsman, Ronnie Brown.Liz and Ronnie come out waving to our guests, as if they are royalty or something, which was strange, and the tactic all but mutes their applause. Ronnie looks young in the video, and I think about how he was not yet a father, how Emily did not even exist when this video was shot. wetnurse of honor, Wendy Rumsford, and best man, Jake PeoplesJake and Wendy walk across the dance floor and directly toward the camera until their faces are life-size on my fathers huge flat-screen television. Wendy just sort of screams like she is at an Eagles game or something, but Jake says, I love you, brother and then kisses the camera lens, leaving a lip-shaped smudge mark. I see the videographers hand make out and quickly wipe the lens with a piece of cloth.And now, for the first time ever, allow me to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Pat PeoplesEveryone stands and cheers as we walk into the banquet room. Nikki looks so pretty in her wedding dress. Shes holding her head in that cute, shy position, with her chin close to her chest, and seeing her now makes me cry because I miss her so much.When we go forward to the dance floor, the band shifts gears, and I hear those sexy synthesizer chords, faint high-hat taps, and then the soprano saxophonist steps forward and Songbird takes flight.Something in my promontory begins to melt, and it feels as though I am experiencing an ice-cream headache or as if someone is churning my brain with an ice pick. Im not seeing the television screen anymore, Im seeing the road through a fogged windshield, and its raining something fierce. Its not even four in the afternoon, but its as dark as midnight. Im befuddled because we have a big game coming up and yet the gym roof is leaking again like a sieve, which has forced me to cancel basketball game practice.All I want to do is take a shower and then watch game tapes.But when I enter my house, I hear a soprano sax moaning, and its strange to hear Kenny Gs smooth jazz coming from my bathroom at a time like this. Mr. Gs notes are swirling all about. I open the bathroom door I feel the steam lick my skin, and I wonder why Nikki is listening to our wedding song in the shower. Kenny Gs solo has reached a climax once more. The CD player is on the sink, and two piles of clothes rest on the floor, and a pair of mens glasses are on the sink next to the CD player. Sexy synthesizer chords, faint high-hat taps.You fucking whore I scream as I rip the shower curtain off the rod, exposing so much awful, soapy flesh.Im standing in the tub. My hands are around his throat. Im between them now, the shower is disperse the back of my coat with hot spokes, weighing down my sweatpants, and he is in the air, begging me with his eyes, pleading for a breath of air. His hands are trying to ameliorate my grip, but he is a tiny, weak man. Nikki is screaming Kenny G is playing Nikkis lover is turning purple. Hes so small, I can hold him up against the tiles with one hand. I cock my elbow back, squeeze a tight, teeth-shattering fist, and take aim. His nose explodes like a packet of ketchup. His eyes are rolling int o the back of his head his hands have fallen away from mine. When I cock back my fist a second time, the music stops playing, and then Im on my back in the tub and Nikkis naked lover has fallen out of the tub and naked Nikki is holding the CD player in her trembling hands. When I try to stand, she smashes the CD player over my head once more my knees give out, and I see the silver faucet rise like some fat, undimmed snake to strike the hard spot just above my right eyebrow, and then I wake up in a hospital and at a time begin vomiting all over myself, until nurses arrive and tell me not to move my head. And Im crying and calling for Nikki, but she does not come to me. My head hurts so badly. When I touch my eyebrow, I feel some sort of bandage, but then my hands are being forced to my sides. The nurses are screaming and holding me down, and then doctors are restraining me too. I feel a prick in my arm, and When I blink, I see my reflection in the blank television screen. The vid eo has ended. I look life-size on my fathers flat screen, and I can see my mother asleep on the couch, just over my right shoulder. As I continue to stare at myself, my little white scar begins to itch, but I do not really want to smash my forehead with my fist.I find my feet and crutch my way into the kitchen. The address book is still in the cabinet above the stove. I place a call to Jakes apartment. As the phone rings, I look at the microwave and see that it is 254 a.m., but I remember that Jake is at a swanky hotel party and wont be home until tomorrow, so I decide to leave a message.Hello, youve reached Jake and Caitlins machine. Please leave a message after the beep. Beep.Jake, its your brother, Pat. I need a huge favor