HARD TIMES... change, not for the better (Part 55g)

I stayed in there for a while before coming out. My heart was still beating fast when I did. There was nothing happening but I was reluctant to venture back into their bedroom. When I calmed down I realized that my back was really hurting so I went into my bedroom to lie down. I was asleep when Eugene and Faith returned. It was time to go to the track and check on the horses. I was glad that it was Sunday because I knew AJ wouldn’t be there. Even though I was almost certain that I’d go to work for Dan I dreaded telling AJ. I also dreaded telling Eddie. We were really close and I knew it would make him sad. I spent as little time as I could before returning to the apartment.

Between my back bothering me and trying to come up with some way to tell AJ that wouldn’t make him mad I didn’t get much sleep. I remember that there was a storm blowing in off the ocean as Eugene and I drove to the track. It was raining so hard that we didn’t take the horses out of the barn to even jog them a bit. It meant that we spent a lot of time just standing around and, as we did, I summoned up the nerve to approach AJ. I fully expected to get a “lecture” from him and had even imagined what he might say. When I told him there was hardly a change in his expression. He was very calm. He did make me feel bad when he asked if I'd told my grandfather. I told him that I’d stay until the racing ended on October 1st which was a full two weeks away. I stood there waiting for a reaction but the only thing I remember him saying was that he’d like it if I’d stay until end of the first week in October as he and the owner were headed to the Harrisburg auctions. His friend, Hank, was moving on to race in the city so AJ needed someone to train and race the horses while he was gone. At first I didn’t pick up on the last part... “and race the horses”. I told him that my arrangement with Dan was contingent with me being able to start around the first of the month. He didn’t plead but did ask if I‘d at least ask Dan for the extra week. I said I would.

It was over the next hour that remorse set in. I started questioning myself, focusing on what he’d said “and race the horses”. Had I made my “move” too soon? The owner had already bought five horses and was obviously committed to buying more. Was I going to miss out on something good? I was a mess. Standing around on a cold day, in the rain, wasn’t helping my back. We had a couple of horses racing that night so even though I didn’t want to come back I knew I had to. I also had to try and get in touch with Dan. Nothing was going right.

When I finally got through to Dan I told him that I would accept the offer but that I couldn’t start until the 10th of October. I told him that I just couldn’t leave AJ “hanging”. He didn’t like hearing that but, reluctantly, said “OK”. Now I had to break the news to Eddie. More discomfort.

One of the horses that Eddie was caring for was racing that night which made it a bit easier. I can still see the look on his face when I told him. It honestly made me sad. He tried “selling” the concept of the new horses and the potential they offered. I was aware of that but it was the offer of more money and having horses to race on my own that were the big items for me. When I told him I’d be around until AJ got back from Harrisburg and that he’d indicated that I’d get to drive the stable’s horses in his absence it seemed to cheer him up.

Between my back and the events of the day it was another pretty much sleepless night. On top of that Eugene’s baby was sick and she spent a good bit of the night crying. Because I was awake I got up and washed and dressed early the next morning. When I walked into what served as the living room I saw Faith curled up asleep on the couch with the baby nestled into her arms. But I also got a peek at her panties, It was nothing special but it made me smile for a few seconds.

We were down to just nine horses that were capable of racing and that meant that I had some nights off. As I mentioned earlier, the apartment was located between the Atlantic Ocean and Boston Harbor. Right across the harbor was the Boston airport and one of the flight paths to it was right over the apartment building. Over time, I’d gotten used to the droning sound of the engines. (Jet service was still fairly new at that time) On my first night off I went up on the roof to watch some planes while landing. I don’t remember how long I was up there but I do remember that I was about to leave when I looked out to the East. It seemed like there was this small orange ball moving towards me. After a few minutes it became obvious that it was a plane with an engine on fire. I stood there watching it come closer and closer. I was frozen in place. I watched as it flew right over the apartment and then I ran to the other end of the roof and watched as it proceeded to land. I truly expected to see a crash.

The picture of the flaming engine stayed with me all night. I couldn’t get comfortable what with my back and that image clouding my mind made for another bad night. As far as the racing was concerned I couldn’t wait for us to move to New Hampshire. I was looking so forward to getting to drive some of the “good” horses. Eugene’s lease for the apartment was up on September 30th so he planned on leaving on that date. AJ decided to ship five of the horses on up early and I went with them. I never really got to see more than a couple of VPL’s during the rest of the time I spent with Eugene and Faith. I had hoped to get a picture of them (especially Faith) but didn’t have a camera and neither did they. When I left we said that we’d get together over the Winter. Dan’s farm was less than two hours away from their’s so it seemed reasonable. At least I hoped that it did.

To be continued...