Play Your Cards Right... (Shane)

[Anthony Higgins]

By Racetrack's pocket watch, it was about four o'clock in the afternoon. He stood by the entrance to the Sheepshead Bay Races, leaning against the wall near the doorway. His pocket was heavy with pennies, and as he waited he counted out twenty of them. Not too much of a bet, he knew. His usual bookie, Felix, was always miffed when Race made a bet of twenty cents, and in pennies, no less. But he needed the other twenty-five to buy his papers for tomorrow, and five to actually have something to eat today. Twenty was usually all he could bet, unless he didn't feel like eating.

The first race would start in about an half hour. Racetrack hoped that Shane wasn't planning on being late, otherwise he would go without her. When they had first met, Shane expressed an interest in the races but told Racetrack she'd never been to one. Since Shane had seemed like an all-right girl and he'd taken a friendly liking to her, he'd offered to bring her to the tracks the next time he went. They had scheduled to meet there (it wouldn't be such a big deal for Shane, a Brooklyn girl, to get to Coney Island and the Sheepshead) at about four. He wasn't about to condemn her yet, considering it was just the hour now, but if she wasn't here soon they would never get good seats, much less place their bets in time...

A rowdy, yet wealthy-looking gentleman hurried into the track, pushing along a few reluctant-looking friends. In their slight frenzy, they dropped today's race card. Racetrack ducked down quickly to pick it up and glanced at it. It was surely today's, but there were marks on it that made his eyes widen. He recognized those marks: the heavy black charcoal pencil of a bookie's marker, usually employed scribble down your name and bet in a ledger. They were never used on a race card...or if the bookie cared enough to circle the race number and horse number, not like this. There were check marks near the second, fifth and seventh races...a complete oddity. A large X crossed out the others, for a reason that mystified Race. Were the checked races fixed, or were they the clean ones? He knew bookies took bribes all the time. Some races were fixed, but for every one that was there would be two that were clean.

He wouldn't put it past the gentleman who had been so eager to get into the track...the people with money were always looking how to save theirs and take more of other people's. And it wouldn't come as a surprise, either, that the gentleman knew someone who could give him insider information. He'd been planning to bet on the fourth today, but now, he wasn't so sure. If only he could tell what was meant by the checks and X's.

He was brought from his musings by the sound of footfalls coming near to him.

[oceansand588]

It was a balmy afternoon, bright and warm, but also breezy. It was a perfect day, especially to go to the races. Shane was standing on the sidewalk, staring at the racetrack. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. She loved feeling the warmth of the sun on her face, and the breeze in her hair, so for lack of a proper hair tie, she had removed one of her anklets and used it to pull her hair up in a pony tail (A ponytail... how appropriate, considering that I'm goin' to the races t'day, she thought.) She could feel the air on her neck now, and occasionally, a light zephyr would swirl around her, playing with strands of her long brown hair.

Shane shook her head. If she wasted anymore time, she would be late. She shielded her eyes from the glare and gazed in excitement at the Sheepshead Bay Races, where she and Racetrack had agreed to meet at four o'clock. He had said that he'd be waiting outside, near the entrance, but she had yet to spot him. A group of well-heeled gentlemen rushed by her, heading towards the racetrack. A portly fellow in the rear was seemingly in control. He glanced at a pocket watch, and nervously placed a chubby hand on a man's back, giving him a not so subtle shove to keep him moving.

Shane raised an eyebrow... the pocket watch. Who did she know that had a pocket watch? Ah, right. Racetrack, o'course. I needs t'find 'im. Maybe they'se know where they'se goin', an' where ever they'se go, maybe he'll be there. Shane grinned and stepped lightly off the curb, pleased with her logic. A few paces more, and she was close enough to the man that she could count the gold links in his watch chain. It was tempting to reach out and stroke it, but she settled with staring at it in awe. She had never seen something so bright, and so seemingly pure and valuable so close.

They were nearing the entrance to the racetrack. Shane spotted a figure leaning casually against the wall. No doubt, it was Racetrack, but she didn't break from the group yet. The man might take notice of her if she did, and although he might report her to a copper in the stands as a pickpocket. But, Racetrack was clearly waiting for her, so she fell back from the men and made her way to him. "Heya Race. Sorry I'se kept you waiting so long," she said. His back was turned, and he was staring at something that he held in his hands. "Watcha' got there?"

[Anthony Higgins]

"Heya Race. Sorry I'se kept you waiting so long."

Racetrack looked up from the mysterious race card to see Shane, who apparently liked to show up late and keep people waiting. Well, that probably wasn't the case. She was here about a half hour before the race, which was good time. He had only begun to worry when she came up to him, which in his book was pretty on time. "Hiya, Shane," he said with a nod. "Eh, forget about it. We ain't missin' nothin'. But we gotta place our bets with Felix first thing and find somewhere t'stand." His free hand reached into his trousers pocket, where he had stashed the twenty pennies he would bet. "Got your dough, then?"

"Watcha' got there?"

He glanced at the race card before showing it to her. "Today's race card them plutes dropped shovin' their way in here," he explained. "That ain't all marked up for nothin', though. I'm thinkin' somethin' here's fixed, but I can't figure it for the life of me..." He held it up to her, thinking that she might be able to puzzle it out. Looking on with her, he could also see that a few of the horses were marked with small, less-than-noticeable tick marks as well: Autumn Spirit in the second, Merlin's Magic in the fifth, and Zebedee in the seventh. He pointed them out to Shane. "What do you make of that?"

Although Race would have liked to spend more time looking at the race card and trying to decode its meaning, he knew they had to get in line to place their bets before the bookie windows closed. He gave Shane a nudge on the arm. "We better get in line now," he said. "We'll talk about it while we're waiting." He knew it wasn't exactly a fast process placing a bet (especially, he thought wryly, if one bet in pennies) and there was quite a line. Today was a good day for races, and a lot of people showed up at the Sheepshead. Usually it wasn't the best crowd (the tightwads all went to Nassu County in Queens, probably because it was newer and for no other reason) but people were people, and he wasn't complaining. He started in toward the betting windows, checking to make sure Shane was behind him and wasn't getting lost in the crowd.

[oceansand588]

"Hiya, Shane, Eh, forget about it. We ain't missin' nothin'. But we gotta place our bets with Felix first thing and find somewhere t'stand."

Shane nodded. "Who's Felix?" she asked. She did not know much about organized betting, such as it seemed to occur at the races.

"Got your dough, then?"

Shane smiled and touched a hand to the hem of her shirt. She was wearing double layers, and had stashed a small amount of pennies in a pocket on the undershirt. She counted her pennies earlier that morning and was pleased with her total. She had 15 cents in her pocket, and she hoped to leave the track with more. "Yep. About fifteen cents. D'ya reckon it'll be enough?"

"Today's race card them plutes dropped shovin' their way in here, That ain't all marked up for nothin', though. I'm thinkin' somethin' here's fixed, but I can't figure it for the life of me..."

Shane rolled her eyes. So they had both seen the bunch of plutes shoving their way to the race. She might not know much about races, but she did know they were often fixed. And it didn't take a smart one to figure out that many plutes probably had a stake in it too. Shane peered at the card that Racetrack held up to her. She noted the markings: check marks by races two, five, and seven. A big 'X' through the other races. Well, check marks usually meant something good or correct, but she couldn't be sure.

"What do you make of that?"

Shane took in the list of horses and the small, faint marks that were next to some of the names. What horses were marked? Shane read the names of the marked horses and checked what race they were running. She didn't recognize the names, but the races that the horses were running matched the races that were marked with checks on the other part of the card. "Autumn Spirit in the second, Merlin's Magic in the fifth, and Zebedee in the seventh." Shane was confused. Was it that simple? Or was there more to fixed races, and for that matter, marked up race cards, than met the eye? She was about to respond when Racetrack spoke up.

"We better get in line now, We'll talk about it while we're waiting."

Shane looked over at him and nodded. "Alright. I'll follow you then." She waited for Racetrack to lead, and then picked up after him. A crowd had formed as the starting time drew nearer. Shane found herself having to twist her way through the crowd and step quickly so she wouldn't lose sight of Racetrack.