A/N I don't know anything about American football, and I'm not a fan either, but since this was so big in the book I felt that I would never make justice to this fanfic if I didn't have at least one football chapter. So here it is! I found a way to make everything fit, though. Hope you enjoy!
THE EAGLES SCORE A GOAL
AND MY DAD STANDS UP AND DOES THE EAGLES CHANT
AND WE ALL HAVE TO DO THE SAME
June, 28, 2007
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" My dad says as soon as we enter into the living room. I look around and see that my brother Jake is here already, and he also stands up and says "Ahhhhhhh" so I put both hands in the air and say "Ahhhhhhhhh" and then all three of us do the Eagles chant, spelling the letters with our bodies –E-A-G-L-E-S! EAGLES!— and when we finish we start to sing the fight song and I look around I see that everybody is smiling. Today is an Eagles game day, the first one from the Summer season, and Jake and Caitlin are here specially to celebrate that and to have a nice family Sunday. Over the past few months, Tiffany has become tolerant of my love for football. She never joins me when it's game day, or when I go to the stadium with the Asian Invasion, but one time my brother suggested we go for beers after the game and I called Tiffany to let her know this and she didn't mind, which was a very good thing, let me tell you, because Nikki would have never reacted that way. However, since this Sunday is a special day because my brother is here and has brought his wife who is back from touring, and Mom wanted a nice family day, I managed to convince Tiffany to tag along. When we finish singing, my brother comes over and is the first to hug me. Then he goes to greet Tiffany whilst I say hello to Caitlin and let her give me another hug, which is a big deal because although I have grown more tolerant of people touching me, I still don't like to be touched by anyone except Tiffany, Mom or Jake. Dad doesn't come to greet me, instead he calls all of us over to the sofa and we end up complying. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Tiffany and Caitlin exchanging greetings, and then they both go over to the kitchen where I am sure my mom is cooking something special for game day.
Mom comes back just before the game starts, and she pulls me into an awkward hug because I am sitting down and she's standing up, but I can see that she doesn't have her hand on her mouth which means she's not about to cry; instead, she's smiling and her voice is sort of high pitched, meaning she's very happy.
"Oh Pat! How nice that you could make it!" she says.
"I know Mom. Did you greet Tiffany already?" I ask.
"Yes, she's in the kitchen helping me with the snacks."
"She doesn't like to watch football" I tell her.
"I know, Patty." She says.
"Okay you two shut it up, the game is about to start" My dad says, and then Mom leaves the room and the game starts and we do the Eagles chant again alongside all the people from the stadium on the TV.
My dad is very enthusiastic today because he keeps saying things like "This is going to be the best season ever" or "The luck is on our side this time", but I can sense that Mom, Jake and I are all a bit worried of how he will react if the Eagles lose the game. Nevertheless, the first half goes great and Richard Edwards, who everybody says is the new man now, scores a touchdown and my brother gets really happy and so does my dad. Jake tells me he will get me an original Richard Edwards jersey so that I can be the man too, since Hank Baskett stopped being the man a long time ago and my old jersey is very outdated. I try to tell him not to, but he insists and deep down I am grateful. I can hear Tiffany and Caitlin trying to have a conversation in the kitchen, but they are both so different that after a while they fall silent and then Mom is talking to Tiffany again and Caitlin comes to the living room and sits down next to Jake, joining in the chant whenever the Eagles score a goal.
At half time, Mom brings in her famous crabby snacks plus some BBQ ribs and beers and we finish it all within a couple of minutes because we were all starving. Tiffany joins us for this, and she sits next to me and then leans into my shoulder once she's had enough food. This little movement reminds me of the way a jealous feline might show possessiveness over her mate, but I know Tiffany is not the jealous kind –not since I promised I would never cheat on her— and that she's simply doing it out of love. My brother, my dad and I start talking about football, and Caitlin tries to join in but mostly just listens. Tiffany remains silent throughout all of it, and I know that I am a very lucky man because with her hatred for football you could say she's a very tolerant person and must love me more than she lets on.
Everybody seems to be having a good time, especially my dad because the Eagles are winning, but then suddenly Tiffany stands up and runs to the toilet, with her hand covering her mouth. Everybody stops talking for a few seconds but my mom follows after Tiffany so that we don't have to worry about her being alone. However, I still worry because this is not the first time that this has happened. Over the past few weeks, Tiffany has thrown up a few times after eating something that normally would be okay. At first I thought it was food poisoning, because to be honest with you the times she vomited were the times we ate outside or had something that was nearly out of date, but since she didn't show any other symptoms and yet the vomiting persisted, I then started to think it might a vomiting virus. I remember reading somewhere that it can last for several weeks, so I think it must be this and then make a point to convince Tiffany later to go see a doctor.
When she comes back, I can hear her conversation with my Mom.
"It's okay, Jeanie, really. It was the milk this morning, I shouldn't have had that but I didn't realize it was out of date" I hear Tiffany say.
"Are you sure?" My mom looks worried. "It might have been the sauce from the ribs, I told Patrick not to get the cheap one but you know how men are, rarely ever listen to what we have to say…"
"No, it's okay, I'm fine. Besides, if it was the sauce then everybody would be throwing up. Jeanie, it's fine, it was the milk, honestly I'm so sorry…"
"But—"
"Mom" I say, because I know my mother needs a lot of reassurance when she thinks she's made a mistake and I can see Tiffany is losing a bit patience with her. "It was the milk. I was also feeling ill this morning, but you know how I have stomach made of iron"
"I suppose so…"
"Why don't we go outside? Perhaps the heat here just made everything worse" Caitlin says, and then Jake agrees with her and soon we are all outside doing some catches. Jake, my dad and I are the ones to play and after a few catches Caitlin joins us, but although I enjoy it my heart isn't fully into it because I am still worried about Tiffany.
After a while Mom says halftime's nearly over, so we go back inside and sit down to watch the game. However, things don't go as well as we expected. The other team starts off really well and soon they have nearly caught up with the Eagles' score. Everybody starts to get really tense because Dad starts cursing and swearing very loudly, but we keep hoping that Rick Edwards will score another touchdown and the Eagles can keep their scores up.
It is in the middle of the second half when Tiffany nudges me and softly asks if she can speak with me, so soft that I have to concentrate to hear it, but when I register what she's saying I see my dad looking very angrily at us so I have to tell Tiffany that I can't talk right now, and it'll have to wait. This however gets her in a bad mood, because she says "Fine" and walks off. I can see Caitlin unsure of whether to follow her or not, but suddenly the Eagles score another goal and my dad stands up and does the Eagles chant and we all have to do the same.
Even though I try my hardest to remain positive throughout the rest of the game, Tiffany remains in the back of my head –not literally, just metaphorically speaking— and I can't shake off the bad feeling that settles on the pit of my stomach. When the game ends, the Eagles win 17-13, which is a very close win, but it's enough for my dad to stand up and throw his fists in the air and for the rest of us to follow him, and then we dance and sing the fight song and hug each other celebrating the Eagles' win.
Once everybody settles down, I look for Tiffany but she is nowhere to be seen. I can see from the window that it's getting late and that we better go back home because we both have to work tomorrow, but I can't find Tiffany.
"Mom, Mom! Where's Tiffany?" I ask.
My mother comes over. "I think she wasn't feeling too well and went upstairs"
"Upstairs? What is she doing?" I ask, but I don't wait for her to finish because I am already half way up the stairs before she can say anything.
"Tiffany!" I shout. I see her come out of what used to be my old room, and I notice that her hair is a mess and her eye-make up is a bit smudged. I get so worried that the first thing I ask is "Are you okay?!" but she waves me away and says she's fine.
"Is the goddamn game finished?" She asks me, a little too brusquely.
"Yeah"
"Well can we go now?"
"Yeah" I say.
I follow her down the stairs, but once we're at the hall I ask what she was doing upstairs.
"I was tired Pat, you know I told you I didn't slept well last night. I was resting my eyes, okay?" She looks at me and her eyes are cold, which means she's annoyed that I didn't listen to whatever she had to say before. I am about to reply that I can't remember her saying that she was tired or that she had a rough night, but my mom comes into the room so for her sake I end up saying "okay".
Jake and Caitlin are going home too, so we all say our goodbyes and walk to the train station together. Caitlin tries to talk about music with Tiffany –since Tiffany has to use a lot of it for her dance routines—but Tiffany mostly ignores Caitlin or gives monosyllables responses. Jake and I talk about the game, and about how lucky it was that we won and that even Dad was in a good mood and how great that was, but in the end since we're taking different trains we have to say goodbye at the platform, and I get a little anxious because I can sense Tiffany's mood and I really don't want to be left alone with her just yet.
At home, just like I predicted, Tiffany is in a very bad mood. Since we are now alone, I try to get her to tell me what she wanted to say earlier today, but she says it's "nothing".
"Tiffany…" I insist.
"I said it was nothing, Pat. It's fine. Just forget about it, okay?"
"Tiffany, I'm sorry, I just couldn't get away from dad because otherwise he would have been really angry and me and—"
"I said it was fine!" She shouts. This tells me she's proper angry now, so I don't press on.
We have some dinner as usual, and although she sits down with me and isn't giving me the silent treatment, she's still not saying much. In the bedroom, when we're both getting ready for bed, I decide to try one last time because I remember one of the reasons my marriage with Nikki didn't work is because I never listened to her, so even if it means Tiffany will scream at me, I have to give it a try because now I know women like to be listened.
"Tiff, you can talk to me, you know?" I say as I prepare the bed.
I think she is going to ignore me, but then she laughs and says "Oh really? Are you sure you wouldn't rather watch some fucking Eagles game instead of listening to what I have to say?"
"Of course not!" I insist, "Tiff you will always come first—"
"Yeah, I'll always come first after the Eagles"
"No, I mean it, you know I always listen to you, but my dad—"
"You know what? Fuck you" She hurries out of the room, goes inside the toilet and slams the door shut.
"Tiffany, I'm sorry!" I shout to make sure she can hear me from the other side of the door. But I don't say anything else, because as you know when Tiffany is angry she just needs some time. Instead, I get changed into my night wear and patiently wait for her to come back.
Around ten minutes later, she does, but I can see straightaway that something's wrong.
"Tiff, you okay?" I sit up on the bed, ready to run towards her in case anything happens.
I see she's crying, and I get even more worried because I think that I must have upset her way too much and then I want to kick myself for being such an idiot and putting my dad's priorities first, instead of Tiffany's, specially knowing what a huge deal it was for her to come to game day when she hates football.
Tiffany slowly gets on the bed and then curls her arms around me, still crying. I lay us both back on the bed and then stroke her silky black hair, like I love doing.
"Shh" I say. "Tiff, I'm sorry, I promise next time I'll listen to you, okay?"
When she doesn't respond, I continue to stroke her hair, and then her back, in the hope that she will calm down soon. After a while, she finally looks up at me. Her eyes are covered in tears, and I want to plant a kiss in both of them because I hate to see Tiffany cry like this, especially knowing I was the reason for it.
"Pat…" She says softly. I wait for her to continue. "Pat, I love you. Do you love me?"
Her voice is trembling, and she looks so vulnerable at this moment that I again want to beat myself up for making a wonderful woman such as Tiffany upset.
"Of course I do, Tiffany. I have loved you since the moment I met you" I say, and as I say it I realize it is true. All the times where I thought I was angry at Ronnie for talking bad about Tiffany, all the times when I defended her, when I looked out for her during my runs, when I tried my hardest to make her happy in our dance routine –all those times I thought I was doing it because she was my friend, and she was going to be my liaison. But it is now that I realize it was because I was in love with her, and I have always known it but never been aware of it.
This seems to calm Tiffany a bit, because she smiles, but then tears are falling from her eyes again and she rests her head on my chest, until her breathing gets even and slowly, we both fall asleep.