Page 70 of Offside

the hallway is a gallery now, kid. hang the medal next to it and the wall wins the group stage of every dinner party for a decade

Mareš

not home. HOME home. I woke up under my own ceiling. there is a shelf in my kitchen with a label on it. Tobík labels things now. the shelf says TOMÁŠ SUPPLY LINE

Hájek

the first crate ships monday. defrost instructions are enclosed. nobody boils them. it will be in the documentation

Mareš

one time. I boiled them one time and I was twenty

Hájek

I was four meters away. some things stay witnessed

Novotný

OFFICIAL. reunion goulash. october twelfth. my mother’s recipe. my mother is already counting heads. attendance mandatory

Polášek

you cannot mandate goulash

Novotný

the goulash is a concept. concepts don’t need agreement

Kovár

home. the eggs at my mother’s table are correct. the committee can stand down

Šíma

the committee never stands down. it relocates

minutes, offseason edition

item one. twenty-three men left a World Cup with a medal and a group chat. both are permanent

item two. Brno reports steak at the grandmother’s table on sunday. the nation’s protein supply is secure

item three. September. qualifiers. we reassemble in Czechia and the record resumes at full staffing

until then the chat remains what it has always been. open. minutes concluded. eat like your mothers are watching, because somewhere they are

Hájek

training packets go out friday. do the mobility work. the couch is not a base camp, Novotný

Novotný

I have been home NINE HOURS

Chapter 21: Šíma

The buzzer goes at ten on a Saturday and I already know who it is, because I gave exactly one person the code to the street door. Then I spent three days checking my phone like the phone owed me money.