The 22nd chapter: the first chapter of 2022. And it's based on the 22nd of January.

So I'm back now.

I was on vacation for a little over a week and only told one person here so my bad haha.

So I'm here now posting two new chapters! :)

And guess what: the events in this chapter is something that I've actually done, so I DO know what I'm talking about haha.

If I can remember much about it...2019 was so long ago...

Anyway.

Enjoy! :)

----------------------------------------------------

Tony is so excited.

Today is the day he and Nonno go to the horse races.

To watch the same horse races that they see on TV all the time.

But in person.

He's been grinning from ear to ear since he walked out of his room to have breakfast this morning; Nonno and Nonna greeting him with big smiles when he sees them for the first time today.

There are perks to staying at his grandparents' house for the night.

At least once a minute while eating breakfast Tony asks Nonno when they're going to leave the house.

Until finally, the pair gets in the car and goes.

It's even more breathtaking in person.

Getting inside the stadium is vivid and a blur all at once as Tony is taking in all of his surroundings with all his senses at once. Sometimes that can be overwhelming; not right now.

And he knows that he's not the only one excited. He sees the excitement shine in Nonno's eyes and show in his attitude. Because he was the one who started watching the races before Tony was born.

Tony has never done this before. He knows that Nonno has; so he is sticking especially close to him today; and mirroring his every move. Because Nonno is so relaxed here. He's done this before. And Tony is in awe of that.

Tony doesn't always bounce up and down in excitement anymore like he used to when he was a little kid; but right here and now he has a little extra skip in his step.

Today is going to be a good day.

Tony's jaw drops when he walks by a TV showing exactly everything that he's seen on TV at home as they go find their seats.

It's like being back in his grandparents' house. But he's experiencing it live along with the cameras videotaping everything to put on TV.

This is wild. This is so wild.

"You excited yet?" Nonno jokes once they find seats.

"YES!" Tony shouts.

Nonno chuckles. "I thought that was going to be the answer."

That's when he pulls out a paper and starts looking over it.

When did he get that? Tony doesn't know. But whatever it is, it must be important.

Tony looks over Nonno's shoulder. "What's that?"

Nonno adjusts it so Tony can see it better. "This is the program for the first race," Nonno starts to explain. "This is the horse number and the number color, the horse's name, the owner and rider and trainer, and other things that you don't necessarily need to worry about." He points to each part with a pencil as he explains what it is. He's already left a star next to two of the horses: Number 3, Blue, Eagle Ease; and Number 8, Pink, Miso Fast.

He notices Tony looking over that. "These are the two horses I'm betting on."

"How many bets can you make?" Tony asks.

"Any amount, really," Nonno explains. "And since you're too young to bet, whenever you're ready to bet on a horse, I'll place the bet for you."

"I want to bet on this race." 

Nonno chuckles. "I was expecting that." He hands the paper to Tony. "Tell me which one you might want to bet on."

Tony studies the stapled pages for a long time. He looks over all the information presented, and Nonno's right, not all of it is entirely relevant, nor what his mind deems important, but he might as well look over it anyway. 

Which one is going to be the one to win?

He repeats that question many, many times until he thinks he found the one.

"I'm gonna bet on number five," Tony decides out loud. "Delusionist."

Number Five: Red, Delusionist. Owner, trainer, and rider all different people.

"Alright." Nonno takes the paper back and puts a star next to number five. "What kind of bet do you want to place?"

Tony pauses. "What kinds are there again?"

Why did he never learn this before?

He feels unprofessional now.

Fortunately, Nonno is very patient, and very ready to explain. "There are many kinds of bets you can place, like a trifecta, an exacta, and lots of others with fancy names. The two most common ones, the ones I would suggest for you, would be either place or show. 'Place' means that the horse will get either 1st or 2nd place, and 'show' is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. Those two bets cost $2 each--and don't worry about the cost of the bets. I'll take care of all of it."

Tony thinks it over.

He likes the sound of a trifecta.

But he'll take Nonno's advice and do a place bet or a show bet.

What would Racetrack Higgins do?

Tony pauses. How much luck with the races DID Racetrack actually have?

"I'll do the show one," Tony gives his answer. Surely not too much can go wrong with that, right?

"Sounds good." Nonno stands up. "Stay here; I'll be right back. I'm going to place the bets."

As Nonno leaves, Tony continues looking around, absolutely mesmerized by it all. And the thing about time to place the bets is that it's the equivalent of the race is about to start. And that has Tony really excited.

And, because it's his default impulse, he starts texting Sean.

So we're here at the horse races

I told you about this before right?

I bet on my first horse!!

Now we just need to see how that turns out haha

Wait why are none of these loading?

Oh I don't have service

Eh you'll see these later

I know for a fact that none of these are sending but I don't have anything better to do so yeah

I'm soooooooooo excited

Tony puts his phone away. He'll leave it at that and text Sean after the races. Or he probably should wait until he has service. 

Not long after Nonno comes back, the announcers start talking, the horses appear, and then the horn sounds, and they start running.

"And then they're off!" Nonno exclaims cheerfully; just like he always does in that same dramatic tone and voice when they're watching at home.

But they're not watching at home.

So Tony is at the front of his seat right now, watching the scene unfold before his eyes.

There's yelling and cheering from everywhere, shouting for their horses.

"Go Delusionist!" Tony adds to the clamor.

Where's Delusionist? He scans wildly.

There.

It's a little hard to tell exactly which horse is first right now, but luckly there's another screen that shows which horse is in which place.

Unfortunately, it shows that Delusionist is in fourth place right now.

Oh come on, Delusionist is neck and neck with the one in third place!

Good thing that there still is a lot of time left for Delusionist to pull ahead.

For now, at least.

Until finally, it's the last stretch.

Nonno stands up, Tony standing up immediatley after. Both are fixated on all the horses so close to the finish line.

Nonno bet that Eagle Ease would get first place; and it did. The second horse he bet on didn't get anywhere close.

Delusionist ended up in third place.

Tony won the bet.

That finally sinks in.

He starts jumping around and cheering. "I DID IT!"

He has got to tell Sean.

Later, though.

Because now, the screen changes. It shows how much money a person will win for each kind of bet they made, and which horse they bet on.

That's how Tony learns he won five dollars from the bet. 

He grins.

He feels a lot of adrenaline right now.

Is this what it was like for Racetrack Higgins? Is this how it will feel every time he wins a bet?

Nonna warned him before he left that if he gets beginner's luck, it won't last forever.

He'll just have to make sure he places the right bets, takes the right risks.

A gamble.

He smiles at that thought.

Now that there is time before the next race, Nonno goes to get the paper for which horses are racing next so they can decide which ones they'll bet on.

Tony is using the back of the previous paper to keep track of the races and the bets he makes and how much money he'll get from it.

They choose their horses and their bets for this race. Tony chooses Number Three, Green, La Waun, in show.

As the next race is about to start, Tony leans forward in his seat all the way again.

And then, the horses take off again.

Tony's eyebrows knit together as he tries to piece out what's happening. A horse is being lead off the track.

Wait that's MY horse.

Why is La Waun being taken off the track?

"What's happening?" Tony asks. "Why're they doing that?"

"Must have gotten disqualified," Nonno explains. "That happens sometimes. Could be any amount of reasons."

"So what happens to my bet?"

"Well, since it was disqualified after the race started, that means that the bet is null."

Tony sinks back in his seat.

Ma dai!

He had a good feeling about this one.

"Accidenti," he mutters. He would use a worse word; but no matter if he used English or Italian Nonno would know exactly what he said, so he keeps all colorful curse words to himself and continues to watch the race.

"It happens sometimes," Nonno tells him when it's over. "You never know when something like that is going to happen. See? My horse lost too."

And so Tony feels a little better.

Besides, he has eight more races to bet on.

And so the day goes on.

Tony bets on a number of horses, mostly those with names he finds funny or just likes, and mostly does show bets.

He wins some bets, he loses others. He wins more than he loses, which is nice.

No more horses (that he bet on, at least) got disqualified.

He even won a place bet. That felt nice.

And he's been keeping track of it all.

It's the ninth race. Tony doesn't want it to be over soon.

The first name that catches his eye is Sassafrass. Number Eight, Brown. He knows he has to bet on that horse.

And it's going to be a place bet.

Place is trickier than show; but he knows that he has to bet on it.

He looks at the screen showing the odds and how many people have bet on each horse; right now, not that many people have bet on Sassafrass, and the odds aren't good.

He's not bothered.

He'll prove them right just out of spite.

"You sure you want to bet on that horse?" Nonno asks him when he comes back. 

"Yeah," Tony answers. "I got a good feeling about this one."

"You've said that about all of them," Nonno points out.

"Yeah, well, this time I actually have a good feeling!" Tony defends himself.

They don't talk about it anymore, for the race starts.

Sassafrass comes in second place.

And Tony has made A LOT more money on this horse.

"THIRTY DOLLARS!" he screeches. Yeah, it's not the $100 dollars that he's seen for some trifecta or super-something-or-other. The highest one he got before was $9.25.

He turns to Nonno with a very smug smile. "Thirty dollars."

"Alright, you told me," Nonno smiles back.

"Thirty dollars," Tony repeats, still amazed.

"Is that all you're going to be able to say?"

"Thirty dollars!"

Okay, that last one was just a joke. But still.

Now it's time to choose which horses he'll want to bet on for the last race.

He examines these pages closer than any before.

He wants to try something.

He's ready for a trifecta bet.

He won't get another chance.

It's risky.

But he's ready to take that gamble.

"I'm gonna do a trifecta," Tony announces.

Nonno's eyebrows raise. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah." Tony stands his ground on this one. "I'm ready."

Nonno is skeptical; but since he himself has been making so many trifecta bets, it was only a matter of time before Tony did. "Alright then. So which horses are you going to bet on?"

"Number Four, Five, and Three," Tony answers. "Golden Sky, Compelling Smile, and House of Charm."

"Which one is which place?"

He didn't think that far yet. "Uh, Golden Sky in first place, Compelling Smile in second, House of Charm in third." He always likes the horse who is Number Four. He just knows Golden Sky will win this one.

"You know that you only win if they are in this exact order?" Nonno reminds him.

Tony nods. "Yeah."

Nonno doesn't argue with him further. After choosing which bets he'll make, he leaves to go place the bets one last time.

Tony texts Sean again.

Thirty dollars

I bet on Sassafrass for place and won thirty dollars

How much sense did that sentence make

Not that much I guess

I mean unless if you've been at horse races before

Wait have you?

Surely you would have said sometign

*something

Anyway it's the last race

I don't want it to be over

I feel really close to Racetrack Higgins right now

Like,, it's not even funny

I know it's silly

It's just...I know this is something he used to do, you know? And I can't explain it, but it feels great being here and doing this

He sends one last text when Nonno comes back: Alright I'll tell you more later

He is still well aware of the fact that none of those have sent yet. They will. And once they do, Sean will have a flood of messages. 

"Ready?" Nonno asks Tony right before the race starts.

Tony takes a deep breath, heart beating fast from the anticipation. "Yeah."

The race begins.

Tony leans forward so much that if he loses his balance he'll topple into the empty seat below him.

The horses that he bet on are scattered everywhere along the track right now. That's not good.

"Come on, come on, come on," Tony urges them in a quiet voice. "You can do this."

Golden Sky is in second place, Compelling Smile not far behind. They just need to both pass Taki's Choice.

And House of Charm in fifth place needs to hurry the heck up.

The tension is tangible in the air.

Yes! Taki's Choice falls behind Golden Sky. Then behind Compelling Smile.

But is still ahead of House of Charm in fourth place right now.

"Come on, come on," Tony urges again. "Come on, House of Charm!"

Suddenly, Compelling Smile pulls ahead of Golden Sky. 

That could ruin his trifecta.

"No! No! Go back!" Tony urges. "You're not supposed to be there!"

It's the final stretch. If the horses don't rearrange themselves quickly, Tony's bet will fall to pieces.

His heart is racing faster than it has all day.

And then the miraculous happens.

"COL CAVOLO!" Tony breathes as he watches it all unfold.

Golden Sky pulls ahead of Compelling Smile in the nick of time.

House of Charm passes Taki's Choice.

Golden Sky, Number Four, gets first place.

Compelling Smile, Number Five, gets second place.

House of Charming, Number Three, gets third place.

Tony has won his last and final bet.

A risky move.

And somehow, he won.

He stands up and starts cheering. It's loud everywhere right now.

"GRAZIE AL CIELO!" Tony shouts. "GRAZIE AL CIELO! GRAZIE AL CIELO!"

He can't believe it.

I hope I made Racetrack Higgins proud.

"You were right!" Nonno exclaims. 

"Wait, how much money did I win?" Tony wonders out loud.

He looks to the screen. And wow is it a lot. 

"That was a smart bet," Nonno comments, looking at the screen.

"How did yours turn out?" Tony asks, not looking away.

"Same as yours."

That gets Tony's head to turn. "What?"

"I placed the same bet as you did."

Tony's eyebrows shoot up with surprise. "What?"

"You can be impulsive, but you're also very smart," Nonno tells him. "I trusted your intuition. Turns out, that was a smart move."

Tony grins.

He feels great right now.

He starts counting how much each bet has made him; how much each one has cost, how many he lost, and how many he won. 

This could have ended very badly where he could have lost more money than made money. Not this case.

He shows Nonno the paper where he kept track of everything. "This is right, right?"

"Looks that way," Nonno replies. "Alright, come with me to collect that last of the money we won from betting."

Tony takes one last look at the place before they leave. This has been like nothing else. He had a lot of fun. 

And he is never, ever going to forget this.

As they begin to walk, Tony asks, "How did everything turn out for you? Like, how much money did you end up with after it all?"

Nonno smiles. "More than I came with. That's all you need to know."

"Alright." Tony's okay to leave it at that.

He texts Sean with a smile on his face. Sooooo much happened. I'll tell you all about it later or next time I see you.

"So how was that?" Nonno asks once they get in the car.

Tony smiles. "Amazing."

Nonna had also warned him before he left that once he gets his first taste of gambling, it might be too late. Better not to get attached on only his first time doing something like this.

Too late.

He's not going to do anything risky, and no frequent visits to casinos in the future; he's too smart for that. But any time Nonno will go to live horse races, Tony is going to be right there with him.

Because this?

This feels amazing.

The thing is, two of the people who he looks up to the most right now--Nonno and Racetrack Higgins--are both people who like horse races and gambling. And now he's like both of them.

And, in this moment, Tony feels closer to Racetrack Higgins than he ever has before. And that too feels amazing in ways that words will never be able to describe.

----------------------------------

I had fun writing this.

I used a lot of my own experience to write this.

So here's the story of how I ended up at horse races: for Father's Day a few years back, my mom took me, my sibling, and my grandfather to the horse races, at the place where all the horse races my grandfather watches on TV happen. And it was sooo much fun.

It was absolutely wild to see those races with my own eyes. I remember feeling like I was in the TV inside my grandparents' house.

If anything is inaccurate, that's because it has been a few years. There definitely were some times writing this where I didn't know how to format it so I just came up with something and stuck to it.

I still do have the paper (or at least one of the pages) from the first race, where on the back of it I kept track of every horse I bet on and how much money I got.

The date on it says 6/16/19.

I do remember what I was wearing that day: a Lion King shirt, really comfortable pants that didn't hug my legs and went to about halfway down my shin, and a cowboy hat my parents got from Australia nearly 20 years. That was a peak Gender Moment for me haha.

The horse that I bet on for the first race was Delusionist, Number Five, in show, and got $5 for it.

Twice I bet on horses that ended up getting disqualified; one got disqualified before the race started, one after.

I bet on Sassafrass in show, got $8.20 dollars for it, but if I trusted my intuition and betted for place, I could have gotten $24 or something like that.

My trifecta fell apart when one of my horses got in last place haha. As you can see, I gave Tony better luck with a trifecta.

Oh also, after doing all the math, apparently my total amount of money won from bets was $42.40.

My sibling was disappointed that I somehow won more than them.

The thing is that at times, I have really, really good intuition, like, freakily good intuition. Which I was able to use to my advantage, at least most of the time.

And it was all really, really fun. 

Honestly, I'm not going to apologize for making this story very heavily Tony/Race-centric. Because I like writing my story like this.

Fun fact: I read somewhere that while making Newsies, Max Casella supposedly taught some of the younger actors how to gamble. I find that really funny.

I hope you all liked this chapter! :)

So what was it like for Racetrack Higgins, going to horse races, in 1899? ;)

Please, no homophobia or transphobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who listened to The Gambler by Kenny Rogers and King of New York from 92sies and Live Like Horses by Elton John and Luciano Pavarotti a lot while writing this chapter)