You Better, You Bet

Introduction

This is for Alexander McEvoy's challenge which you can read about below

The character I chose is the addict

The music is "You Better, You Bet" by The Who

You Better, You Bet

Again he couldn't afford the hostel, and begging hadn't brought him much. He had got a sausage roll at Greggs, but that was all he had eaten today.

It was 2024 and he had nothing.

It was four years since the pandemic hit and he lost his job and that meant he couldn't afford rent, and ended up homeless.

When the pandemic hit he had a hotel room but when it was deemed safe he was back out on the streets.

His eviction was going to happen even if he had kept his job because he had lost anything at Ladbrokes and William Hills, He was always sure the next bet would make his fortune, and bring him back into the black, but the only winners were the bookies.

He was still an addict and said he would give up when he won enough to put things right, but the only things that got bigger were the bank overdraft (til they closed the account) and the payday loans which he couldn't repay.

Now he was begging, and most of what he got ended up in the bookmakers' pockets.

Tonight he was sleeping under the old railway arches to shelter from the rain. He had some old newspapers to keep him warm and he eventually drifted off to sleep.

The alarm went off

What the hell

Was he dreaming?

No, he was in his bed and his alarm had gone off. He looked at the time and more significantly the date which was 9th March 2020. He turned the radio on and heard that a World Lockdown had been declared.

He rang work and they told him you come in, the UK lockdown would not be for another two weeks, which he remembered resulted in many deaths. He started wearing masks and avoiding people where he could.

He knew that in a few weeks he would probably be sacked, but he still had his flat, and eviction notice unless he could find £400 within two weeks.

But then he thought.

"I've gone back in time"

He still remembered what he went through and some of the bets he wished he had put on.

He found his wallet and knew the football matches were still being played in empty stadiums.

Would the results still be the same?

He had his mask and went to the local betting shop and put on a Yankee accumulator for four matches with some results he remembered. The odds for each result were around 2/1 so the bet cost him £11.

On Saturday evening he checked the results, and they all came in giving him a profit of £240.

The following week he did the same and made a similar amount of money.

He paid the back rent and if his memory served him well he could keep himself financially stable and pay off debts. This was just like in "Back To The Future" when the guy got the book full of sports results from the future.

He remembered big Horse Rac winners and League and Cup winners so he started putting on large long-range bets and collecting a lot of money.

He wasn't sacked, and the job gave him a stable financial base but the betting enabled him to buy his own apartment.

The pandemic still meant he had to be careful, but now he was in a far safer position than he had ever been.

He had been given a second chance and he had grabbed it with both hands.