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

The Harrisburg auction started on Monday, October 3 and AJ and the owner drove down on Sunday. I was scheduled to drive Crestwyn that Monday night and I couldn’t wait. I planned to do the same thing I’d done the night that Hank had driven him and won the race. The only concern was that the New Hampshire track was only a half mile which meant the turns were “tighter”. As most of the races were one mile in length it meant two times around the track. Crestwyn was a big horse and AJ had warned me that he’d have trouble with the turns. Eddie seemed to think he’d be OK. I wished that I’d had a chance to train him at least once before I raced him.

It didn’t go well at all. As AJ had predicted, the turns were a problem for him. Over the past five years he’d only raced on a half mile track a handful of times. I think I might’ve finished last. It wasn’t the start that I’d been counting on and it didn’t get any better. The next night, in the one race that I thought I really had a chance to win, a local driver, who was drunk, hit my horse when he tried to pass us. I ended up third and when I went to protest him, the judges said there was no contact even though I showed the paddock judge the blood on my horse. It was a valuable lesson. Locals rule. The man was obviously drunk as he staggered away from the horse after dismounting from the sulky. I was really mad but I was just a “kid” with no credentials or standing so it didn’t matter to them.

The next morning everyone at the cook house was talking about the plane crash at the Boston airport. It had crashed into the harbor just to the West of the apartment that I'd shared with Eugene and Faith. For some reason that news really bothered me. That night, while on the track warming up a horse, a call came in for me. Because of rules promulgated to keep betting honest no phones were allowed in the paddock or grandstands. It was from my father but there was no message other than to call home as soon as possible. I had no idea if it was about Elle or one of my grandparents who at that time were both in ill health. I don’t even remember which horse I was racing but I know my mind wasn’t on the race. It was after midnight when I finally got to a phone. I was a father for the second time as Elle had given birth to a healthy girl. I remember being happy but totally perplexed as to what to do. Here I was, up in New Hampshire, responsible for nine valuable race horses with no one to turn them over to and my wife had just given birth to my baby. I knew I just couldn’t go off and leave the horses but I also had a responsibility to my family. I was in for another long night.

I tried to reach AJ the next morning but was unsuccessful. I left messages at the hotel he was supposedly staying at but didn’t get a response. I fully expected him back on Friday night and had listed him to drive two horses on Saturday. I wasn’t able to talk with Elle so explained my situation to my father and asked him to pass it on to her. The way I left it with him was that I’d be home on Saturday

I got a call late Friday afternoon from Mrs AJ and it wasn’t the one that I wanted to get. AJ had pneumonia and was in the hospital in Harrisburg. She didn’t know when he’d be released and she wanted to know that I’d stay with the horses until he got back. Talk about a blow to the mind! And, as far as I was concerned I was already gone.

The bad news didn’t stop there. We always got paid, in cash, on Saturday. Mrs AJ was in Harrisburg and had no way to get money to us. I couldn’t have gone home anyway because I was broke. Of the four men working for AJ, only “Pop” and Eddie had any cash at all. I explained the situation to them and they, reluctantly, agreed to lend food money to the others. Eating wasn’t my big problem... getting in touch with Dan and telling him about my situation was.

Fortunately he wasn’t home and I talked to his wife. She sounded sympathetic which gave me some hope. By the time I got off the phone it was time to get out onto the track. I’d never raced either of the horses I was scheduled on that night and that was a different concern. In retrospect, I was truly overwhelmed.

I didn’t do well with either of the horses and I have no idea where I finished with either of them. I’d gotten everything ready with the trailer so I could leave first thing in the morning. I'd put loose stuff in boxes and on the bed. I didn’t really have a place to sleep. I also didn't have even the faintest idea of what I was going to do the next day. I ended up falling asleep in my clothes in a place I managed to clear off the couch.

Even though I had horses to train that next morning I needed to get the situation with the money taken care of. It was mid morning when I finally got in touch with Mrs AJ. There was no news with AJ’s condition so she couldn’t give me any guidance as to how long I’d be needed. As far as the money, she’d contacted a relative of AJ’s who lived in Massachusetts who was going to drive to the track with some, but not all, of the money owed to us. That was the only positive I was able to garner. At least I had some good news for the men when I got back.

Before I was able to start training the horses that were scheduled there was a call over the loudspeakers for me to come to the office. It could’ve only been Elle or Dan and I had no information to share with them. It was probably going to be a plea from Elle and an ultimatum from Dan. In my mind I just couldn’t leave there at that time. It turned out to be Dan... and I was right. He was really upset with me and I thought I was going to hear him say to forget about the job. I do remember my legs shaking as I listened to him. Just when I was at my lowest point I heard him say something along the lines of “be there next Saturday or don’t bother showing up”. I also remember standing there by the phone for quite a while before I was able to move.

Elle was a different story. Tears and sobs was about all I heard. It ended up being a long, long day, especially after adding in another bad performance with the horses I drove that night. AJ’s relative showed up in time for all of us to be able to eat that evening. It was the first real meal I’d had in over two days. Back at the trailer I gave some serious thought to just quitting the horses altogether when AJ showed up. I'd performed poorly with the horses and had some doubts about my ability as a driver. I remember thinking about what I might be able do about getting a job with my college degree. I also remember not being able to come up with an idea.

To be continued...