Once I got my first taste of a win, it all made sense. The thrill of a risk being rewarded sparked a thirst for more.
The pavilion rumbled with activity the first call of the bugler, people in large hats and jewelry took their seats in the shaded grandstands, the rest of us, in our running shoes or work boots stayed down in the free area, closer to the action. We inhaled the atmosphere of the freshly pressed dirt on the track, could almost smell the adrenaline dripping off the jockeys and horses as they gathered into the starting gate stalls.
And then they were off.
A flash of the announcer’s narration over the speakers, exchanges of blue, white, black, then red taking the lead, my winning formation, then someone else’s, and someone else’s, then mine again. Tracking numbers and colors and names. Lady Chrome, Flying Fury, Moral Dilemma.
They ran side-by-side, neck-and-neck. With a photo finish, the winners were confirmed and the numbers on my ticket—my first bet— matched the order of the orange-dot lights on the tote board. A $3 trifecta bet won me $72.
That cash handed to me with a smile from the old man at the teller window was all it took. I was hooked.
Lauren Oertel is a writer, editor, and community organizer based in Austin, Texas. She is a writing workshop facilitator certified in the Amherst Writers & Artists method. Her work has been published in Black Fox Literary, The Westchester Review, Gemini Magazine, The Sun Magazine, and more. She has been a winner and finalist in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction contests with The Letter Review, Writer’s Digest, Prime Number Magazine, and others. Lauren is the coauthor of the book Inside Out: A Texas Prisons Poetry Story, and her debut full-length poetry collection, Scars & Other Luxuries, is forthcoming with Finishing Line Press in November.
