Forever Is Over (73 page)

My Dad was right that night. Jim often tells me he
’
s the luckiest man
alive and I always tell him we are the luckiest couple. I didn
’
t drop my
standards, I raised the bar and no-one in the world could have sailed over
it like Jim. The years have been kind to him and he is trimmer now than
he was when we first met but he would still not win any competitions
b
ased on looks alone. Who cares?
Looks fade as personality continues
to shine and anyway, these days Jim seems gorgeous to me. He is an
entertaining, caring, compassionate, intellectual man and I still burst
with pride every time I introduce him as my husband.

“
Richie, you want ME to lend YOU money?
”
Dad could not contain a smirk.
“
ME!
”

“
Dad, I
’
m just asking whether you could lend me any money, what
’
s
so funny about that?
”

“
I
’
ll tell you what
’
s funny about that! This whole family spends it
’
s
whole together time giving me stick about not being able to look after
money and now you are asking me if I will lend you some! Who else in
the family have you already asked?
”

I looked at him sheepishly.

“
Everyone.
”
I mumbled.

“
So no-one else will lend you anything, so as a last resort, you come
to your old Dad, eh?
”

This conversation was taking place in the garden shed at the bottom
of our garden. I had spotted Dad sneaking out there to read his
“
Racing
Post
”
and thought it would be a good moment to approach him, before
the losing bet rather than after. The fact that he was hiding in a shed
in late Autumn, to read his Racing Post, indicated that most previous experiences of betting had not proved fruitful.

“
Dad, I know you never have any money, but I thought I might as
well ask.
”

“
What do you need it for?
”

“
I want to go and find Kelly. I know round about where she is?
”
“
Where?
”

“
Singapore.
”

“
SINGA-BLOODY-PORE! I thought you were going to say
Manchester or somewhere like that! Not SINGA-BLOODY-PORE!
”

“
It wasn
’
t my idea for her to go there.
”

“
Yes, but you
’
re the daft pillock who
’
s going to follow her out there,
like a lost puppy! How much is that going to cost you to get there?
”

“
In total, I reckon I
’
ll need a grand.
”

“
And how much have you got?
”

“
I had
£
300 myself and
…
..
”

Dad interrupted.

“
How much have the rest of the family given you?
”

“
Caroline said she can give me
£
50.
”

“
And the rest of them?
”

“
They
’
re all skint.
”

“
So you
’
d need
£
650 from me. Hang on whilst I write you a
cheque!
”

Dad motioned as if he was going to go in search of a chequebook.
I started to get excited.

“
Really?
”

“
No, of course not you daft git! Where would I get
£
650 from?
”

“
I thought you may have had a win on the horses.
”

“
The most success I
’
ve had on the hor
ses recently, Richie, was when
Doncaster was waterlogged and I got my stake money back!
”

I thought as much. Tramps held on to money longer than Dad.

“
Never mind,
”
I said.

Dad realised I was disconsolate and stopped joking.

“
So there
’
s no way you could get there with
£
350?
”

“
I might be able to get a flight, but then there
’
s food and lodgings
to pay for when I
’
m there. I many not be able to find Kelly straight
away.
”

“
Right.
”

Dad had a little goatee beard at this point. He ran his fingers
through it.

“
What if I were to invest the money for you?
”

“
Invest it? That would need to be a good investment to go from
£
350
to
£
1000 within weeks.
”

“
It could go from
£
350 to
£
1000 in the space of forty minutes. It
could also be worth nothing in forty minutes too.
”

             
Now I understood.

“
Dad, are you suggesting I put the whole
£
350 on a horse?
”

“
Not exactly!
”

“
Good! You just said you were having no luck and then I thought
you were going to try to spread your bad luck to me! I
’
ve enough of my
own, thank you!
”

“
Not one horse. Two horses! A short priced double!
”

“
Bloody hell! What sort of father are you?
”

“
Look son! Can you get to Singapore and stay there for
£
350? No,
you can
’
t. So, as things stand, that three hundred and fifty quid of yours is pretty worthless. Now if you gamble it, you
’
ll either win and everyone is happy or alternatively you will lose and you won
’
t be able to afford to
go, which is pretty much the position you are already in!
”

“
Who
’
s picked the horses?
”

“
I
’
ve had a couple of tips from a reliable source.
”

“
Who?
”

“
Dave at the Dog & Gun.
”

“
Dave at the Dog & Gun! How is he a reliable source, Dad? He
’
s not exactly Lester Piggott!
”

“
His son is a stable lad at an up and coming trainers down in
Shepton Mallet. His son
’
s called Joe and Joe reckons they have two
really smart horses that are going to have their first outings for the yard
this week. The whole yard are really, really confident that both horses
will win. Their star jockey,
“
Fingers
”
Marling, who rides mainly in
Ireland, is coming over just for these two rides.
”

“
He sounds like a safebreaker not a jockey. When are they running?
”

“
Tomorrow afternoon at Wincanton. I
’
m putting a hundred quid
on the double myself!
”

“
I thought you just said you had no money!
”

“
I haven
’
t! I
’
ve borrowed it off Dave! I
’
ll pay him back out the
winnings!
”

“
Dad, you are just a complete nightmare!
”

“
Don
’
t tell your mother!
”

“
As if I would!
”

I spent the whole evening in my bedroom debating whether I should
gamble everything I had on two horses that Dad had recommended.
Dad had spent my entire life skint, so it was not as though he had a
history of tips that had made him a small fortune. If Dad was backing
them, they were more than likely doomed to failure. Nevertheless, what
choice did I have? As Dad rightly said,
£
350 was getting me nowhere,
so why not gamble? Should I just pick my own horse though rather than
rely on two of Dad
’
s? I thought the best thing to do was sleep on it,
see how I felt the following morning and hope that I woke up feeling
lucky.

That fateful Thursday morning I woke up feeling desperate rather
than lucky. Desperate to find Kelly.
I needed that extra money and
I knew I was going to have to take the risk. I just hoped fortune did
favour the brave. I came down the stairs for breakfast, to find Dad at the kitchen table, not surprisingly, his Daily Express was open on the racing
page. Dad was always one of those blokes who read his newspaper
from the back page to the front and unless something was happening
at Bolton Wanderers, he would skim through the football, cricket and
rugby headlines and keep moving inside until he got to the racecards.

“
Morning!
”
Dad greeted me cheerily.
“
It looks like Paul Mullins
horses are both running!
”

I could tell Dad was excited, he had managed to convert Jim to the
joys of horseracing, now I
’
m sure it felt like an opportunity to convert
me too.

“
What are they called?
”

“
Quartz Starr and Florida Diamond.
”

I must admit, I liked the names. They sounded like winners.

“
So, if I decide to put my money on them. What do I do?
”

“
I
’
ll juggle my appointments and make sure I
’
m in Ormskirk this
afternoon. I
’
ll show you how to put th
e bet on and guide you through
the world of gambling. Now let me see, the races are the third and
fourth races on the card. Florida Diamond goes first in the novice
hurdle and then Quartz Starr goes next in the novice chase
…
.
”

I had to interrupt!

“
Dad, if you
’
ll excuse the pun, can you just hold your horses! Slow
down a bit, will you! I can hear the words coming out of your mouth,
but they mean nothing to me,
you might as well be speaking Cantonese!
”

“
What bit did you not understand?
”

“
Novice hurdle. Novice chase. There
’
s no point going into detail ,
Dad, it doesn
’
t mean anything to me and I
’
m sure, win or lose, this will
be a one-off. I will not spend every weekend for the rest of my life trying
to sneak off to the bookies.
”

Despite saying I did not want specific details, Dad decided he would
tell me anyway.