Memories Are An Old Man's Toys

by Elayne Tulliani

  He remembered that when he said hello to him the last time the little boy looked frightened, and he didn’t want to frighten him again. He waited until he was about ten feet past the child and then stopped and turned to peek into the race track himself. He stood there for a bit waiting for the child to notice him. At one point they both looked in the direction of the other and made eye contact. Billy just smiled and began peeking through the fence again.

  Billy heard the little boy shout over to him “Hey Mister, where are all the horses?”

  Billy didn’t even look away from the fence when he answered, “The handlers are exercising them over here.”

  The next thing Billy knew the child was standing right next to him peering through a little hole in the fence. “Wow,” the little boy whispered, “they’re huge.”

  Billy laughed and said, “Yes they are, son, those are some mighty powerful animals. Have you ever petted a horse?”

  The boy said, “No but I sure would love to.”

  “I tell you what, you run home and ask your mama if it’s ok with her and if it is, then come back here and I will take you to pet a horse.”

  “Really?” The little boy was so excited that he turned to run home.

  Billy yelled out to him, “I’ll wait no more than ten minutes then I’m going to leave so don’t dawdle.”

  “I won’t,” the child yelled back without breaking stride. Billy stood and waited while he studied the horses through the gaps in the fence panels. A few minutes later he saw the boy walking back towards him with his mother holding his hand. Joey was so excited he was pulling his mother as he hurried down the street. Although they were too far away for Billy to hear her words he could tell by the body language she was trying to get the child to slow down.

  When they reached Billy, the woman extended her hand and said, “Hi, my name is Genie, I’m Joey’s mom, and he tells me you offered to take him to pet the horses.”

  “Yes,” Billy said in an almost apologetic voice. “I hope you don’t mind; he just looked so interested in them.”

  “No I don’t mind, Joey told me you were the man who used to run the computer store. My parents used to bring their computer to you when they had a problem.”

  “Really?” Billy sounded surprised and was now searching his mind trying to place their faces so as not to seem rude.

  Genie sensed the embarrassment on Billy’s face and immediately tried to ease the awkward moment. “Don’t feel bad, I don’t expect you to remember them, it was years ago. My father always said that he thought you were a very nice man, I guess that’s why I didn’t worry when Joey said he had spoken to you. I hope you didn’t take it the wrong way that I came back down here with him; I just want him to understand that he needs to always have my permissions to go anywhere with anyone.”

  Billy reassured her that he didn’t take her presence as an insult. “No, I agree, that’s exactly why I told him to go check and make sure it was okay with you first. Unfortunately, you can’t be too careful these days, so is it okay if I take him to meet the horses?”

  “Of course it is, he does love animals, and I think he would get quite a kick out of it.”

  “Are you allowed just to go in and see the horses?” Joey asked.

  “Well son, years ago when I wasn’t much bigger then you are now my dad used to help a lot of the trainers out in his spare time. He used to let me come with him sometimes, and the handlers would always let me help put the hay in the stables. If I was really good, sometimes they would even let me sit on one of the horses.”

  Joey’s eyes opened so wide that Billy thought they might just pop out of his head. “Wow, really?” he said.

  “Yes really,” Billy laughed, “Now I can’t make you

  any promises because I’m not sure which trainers are working today, but I will do my best.”

  The three walked down Winthrop Avenue to the entrance of the race track. There was a security booth right near the entrance and Billy instructed Joey and his mother to wait at the gate for a minute while he spoke to the security officer. Billy walked over to the booth and poked his head inside the office. The young security guard had his nose buried in his phone with such intense concentration one would have thought his survival depended on whatever drivel he was reading. It took the young man a moment to even notice that Billy was standing there.

  Billy didn’t recognize the officer that was on duty, but he knew what names to drop to get them through the gate. The security officer got on his phone and spoke to one of the supervisors’ who was an old timer that remembered Billy and his dad very well. The supervisor’s name was Gus and everyone that worked there thought of him as a hardnosed horseman. That’s why his reaction to the call sort of caught the officer off guard.

  “Billy boy, well I’ll be damned, sure you send him and his company right in, tell him I’ll meet him at stall number twenty-two, he’ll know exactly where that is.”

  The security officer passed the message along to Billy and added, “Mister, I’m not sure who you are but Gus sure does sound happy that you’re here, he’ll meet you at stall number twenty-two. Gus said you would know where that was.”

  “I certainly do know that stall, that’s the stall where a big, irritated mare knocked me on my butt when I was a kid,” he chuckled and thanked the officer for his help.

  Billy turned and signaled for Joey and his mom to join him. He immediately began to point things out to Joey and explain all the different things that went on in the stable area. Billy spotted Gus about ten stalls away; he was filling water buckets.

  Billy took the opportunity to tell Joey a little bit about Gus before they approached him. “Now Joey, don’t you worry about old Gus, he may look mean, but he is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met.”

  Joey squeaked out a meek little, “Okay” and then squeezed his mom's hand a little tighter.

  Billy greeted Gus with a firm handshake and a hug and said, “Hey Gus ya old son of a gun, how have you been?”

  Gus shot back, “Well you’d know if you came by

  more often, what’s a guy gotta do to get an occasional visit out of you?” Just as Gus finished his sentence, he leaned past Billy and said, “And I might even be nicer to you if you always brought a beautiful woman with you, hi ma’am I’m Gus and who is this handsome young man?”

  Joey was a little nervous and stuttered out “I’m, I’m Joey.”

  Gus extended his hand and said, “Well hello Joey, what brings you down to the track today, are you here to place a bet on one of my horses?”

  Joey giggled, “No, I just want to see the horses.”

  “Oh, well then, we better get you over there to meet a few of my babies.”

  Genie smiled at Gus and Billy, she could tell right away they were very kind men despite their rough exteriors.

  The four of them spent the next hour and a half visiting a dozen different horses in their stalls. Gus explained why it was okay to pet some of them and why they could only look at the others. “Some of these magic monsters are going to be racing today and the jockeys are pretty superstitious, they don’t like anyone touching their horses on the days they are scheduled to run.”

  It was time for one of the horses to be led out to the exercise run, and Gus let Joey hold onto the lead while he walked the horse out and hooked him up. Joey was having the time of his life, and the truth was, the adults were having a great time too.

  After Gus hooked the horse up, Joey ran to his mom with a grin from ear to ear. “Mom, did you see that? Did you see me get to lead the horse?”

  “Yes honey I did see you, you did a great job, I’m so proud of you.” When Genie told Joey she was proud of him Billy couldn’t help but re-visit the times his parents were proud of him. He knew how important it was to a child to make his parents proud. He could tell by the look on little Joeys face that it meant a lot to him too.

  Genie said, “I really should let you gentlemen get back to work, you’ve been so kind and given us s
o much of your time.”

  Gus said, “Well this isn’t going to be much of a trip to the track if we don’t let you sit on at least one horse, is it Joey?”

  Joey turned to his mother with so much excitement on his face that all of the adults had a hard time not laughing out loud. “Mom, please, please can I sit on one of the

  horses?”

  “Well if it isn’t too much bother then I think that would be great fun.”

  “No bother at all,” Gus stated. “Now let’s go visit one of my favorites.” Gus led them past all the stalls to an older barn that stood away from all the others. Just before he reached the gate, he stopped and said, “Let me tell you a little about the horse you are going to meet now. He is my favorite horse of all times, and I’ll tell you why.

  His name is Midnight Dream, and he came to me here about seventeen years ago. When Midnight Dream walked out onto the track in his prime, he was a sight to behold. He was tall and strong, and he held his head real high like he was telling the other horses to get out of his way.”

  Joey looked mesmerized as Gus was telling his story.

  “Well, he was scheduled to run one day, and it had been raining extremely hard earlier in the week. He didn’t like to run on the wet ground and as fast and powerful as he was, it was easy to understand that he just didn’t feel real secure running in mud. While the majority of owners take very good care of their horses, there are always some that are just in it for the money. Unfortunately, Midnight Dreams owner was one of those who only cared about the money and didn’t love him the way he deserved to be loved.

  “Despite the jockey and handler saying that they felt the horse shouldn’t be permitted into the race, the owner demanded that they prepare him and run him. Several minutes after the race began the poor thing lost his footing and fell to the ground. The doctor had determined that he had badly injured his leg in the fall. Fortunately, he didn’t break his leg, but in the vet's opinion, he should no longer run. The owner was angry and had decided he was going to have him put down.

  “Now I couldn’t let that happen, and I knew the only thing the owner cared about was the money, so I offered to buy him. The owner was happy to get rid of him and put a little money in his pocket, so he agreed to sell him to me. Midnight Dream has lived here ever since. While it’s true that he was never able to race again, he has still had a good life here. He is a very gentle horse and loves company. So Joey, what do you think about sitting on a real live racehorse?” Joey was so excited that he looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. Gus looked at Genie and asked, “Is it okay with you ma’am if I put Joey up on the horse for a brief ride?”

  “Are you sure he is safe?” she asked.

  “Absolutely ma’am, you have my word,” Gus assured her. Billy gave Genie a reassuring nod as well, and she agreed.

  With that Gus hoisted Joey up into the air and landed him right on the back of Midnight Dream. He was a beautiful horse with a coat so shiny black it was almost blue, and he had a faint little white mark on the bridge of his nose that was in the shape of a half moon. His mane was long and beautifully groomed, and it was clear to see that Gus had kept his promise to Midnight Dream to give him a good life.

  Joey looked so proud to be sitting up high on him and said, “Mom, take a picture of me.”

  Genie asked, “Is it okay?”

  Gus said, “No problem, take as many as you want.”

  With that, she used her cell phone to click a dozen pictures and told Joey,” We’ll send these to Grandma and Grandpa, so they can see how brave you are.”

  While Joey was sitting on proudly up on the horse, Gus led them around the little exercise area and continued to school Joey on how to properly care for a horse. Joey hung on his every word and asked a million questions.

  Billy said to Genie, “I’m not sure who’s having a better time, Joey because he’s riding the horse or Gus because he’s got a captive audience to talk to about his horse.”

  Genie giggled and said, “I think it’s a tie.” While Billy and Genie were waiting for what appeared to be an endless ride to end, they talked about Joey. Genie enjoyed talking about him, and her love for her son was so obvious that you would have to be a fool to miss it. She told Billy how much Joey loved animals and confided in him that Joey had a form of Autism and for some unknown reason when he was around animals he seemed to be able to focus and talk so much better.

  Billy inquired if he had any pets of his own and Genie looked rather sad when she said “No, we live in an apartment that won’t allow pets and I can’t afford to move right now. But someday I hope to own a home where he can have a dog of his own. Right now I take him to the shelter once a week to visit with the dogs there. That way I’m doing something good for him and the dogs in the shelter because they get to play with a kid for awhile.”

  Billy just nodded and said, “That is very nice, he’s a lucky kid.”

  Once Joey was back on the ground and Midnight Dream had returned to the stable, Genie thanked Billy for being so kind to Joey and quietly explained to him that Joey didn’t have too many friends and it was great to see him this happy. Billy felt good and told her he was happy to do it and if they needed anything not be afraid to ask.

  Genie said, “Come now Joey, these men have been very kind and we shouldn’t overstay our welcome. Thank them, and then we must be going.”

  Joey thanked Gus and asked him to please tell Midnight Dream good-bye for him.

  Joey turned his attention towards Billy and said, “Thanks for bringing me to see the horses it was fun.” Then he gestured for Billy to come closer. When Billy leaned into him, Joey said, “I didn’t mean to run away from you that day, it’s just that…” Joey stopped talking for a moment.

  Billy jumped in to help him out, “Don’t worry about it son, I know the kids in the neighborhood think I’m a crazy old man, but I’m not, I just don’t put up with their shenanigans.”

  Joey laughed hysterically and said, “I don’t like their bananamanicans either.”

  Billy laughed out loud and said, “Well then it looks like we have something in common.” For some reason, Billy was finding a connection with this kid, and in the brief time since meeting her, he had also developed respect for Joey’s mother

  It was clear to him that she loved the boy. He had seen too many kids run wild through the neighborhood with no parental supervision. It was refreshing to see a mother take the time to not only supervise her kid but also take an interest in his happiness.

  After Genie and Joey had walked away Gus walked up to Billy and said, “Hey ya old goat, what’s the story with them, you developing an eye for the younger ladies?”

  Billy just shook his head and rolled his eyes, “Some things never change do they, Gus? You’re still a dirty old man.”

  Gus just shrugged and said, “Why shouldn’t I be, I was a dirty young man too, but seriously Billy, what’s the deal with them?”

  Billy just raised his shoulders and eyebrows at the same time as if they were somehow connected to one another. “I don’t know Gus; the kid just pulls at my heartstrings for some reason. I don’t think they have anyone, I’m not sure, but I get the feeling they’re all alone in this world. I figured it wouldn’t do any harm to give the kid a thrill, thanks for humoring me.”

  Gus casually answered, “No problem my friend, anytime. Feel free to bring him back if it’s okay with his mother. I look forward to the distraction and Midnight Dream always loves the company. Oh and if I don’t see you again soon, I wanted you to know I’m retiring in a few months.”

  Billy was surprised by the news and said, “That’s great Gus, I hope you enjoy the free time. I didn’t figure you would ever retire. I thought they’d drag your old body out of a stall.”

  “Well Billy, I wish that was the case, the truth is the only reason I’ve been here this long is it gives me a place to house Midnight Dream. I promised the old boy I would take care of him until the end and working here is the only way I
can keep that promise.

  Honestly, I wouldn’t be retiring at all if it hadn’t been forced on me, I’m not sure what I’m gonna do with the big lug now.” Gus’s words were riddled with the tone of defeat. A momentary deafening silence hung between the old friends.

  Billy’s mind immediately began to spin with potential solutions to Gus’s dilemma. There was no way he was going to allow his dad’s old friend to be forced to surrender his horse based solely on red tape and lack of funds.

  Billy's voice rang with empathy, “Sorry to hear that buddy, I’m sure it will all work out, just keep the faith, thanks again Gus, I’ll let you get back to pretending to work.”

  “Smartass” Gus whispered as Billy walked away “Oh and I heard what you said to the kid, and you are a crazy old man, but it wouldn’t kill ya to stop by a little more often, us crazy old men need to stick together.”

  Billy didn’t even turn around he just waved over his shoulder and yelled, “Get back to work, those horses aren’t going to water themselves.” With that, Billy walked past the security booth and shouted a “Thank you” into the booth.

  The guard responded with an impersonal “Yup,” without even looking up from his phone screen.

  Billy let out a quiet snort and whispered, “Yup, nice talking to you too buddy.”

  10

  THE JOURNAL

  As he exited the track, he thought, “I better get a move on if I’m going to get anything accomplished at the storage facility today.” As he made his way to the office area, he kept thinking, “Something about that kid just tugs at my heart.” When he entered the office at the storage facility, he was greeted by Amanda. She was a young woman, probably in her early to mid-twenties. She always greeted him with a big smile and referred to him by name. She worked full time in the office reception area and had taken the time to make it a pleasant environment. Despite the fact that customers spent very little time in there she had a nice little area set up with coffee and hot chocolate and several times she had even set up a plate of cookies