A Greenlit Win

Enrique excitedly approached the spot where he was going to get brunch with his newfound friends, “In my 29 years alive it is rare to have connected with so many people, thank God I finally met some Americans in Mexico City.” He saw the familiar faces of Maria Elena and Cepheus now surrounded by less familiar but recognizable faces from the “networking event” of the previous night. He sat at the head of the table, next to Cindy, a 30-year-old blonde with soft wavy blonde hair, whose calm charisma and confidence provided an aura of tranquillity. To her left was an unfamiliar girl whose dauntless green eyes, and energy to match, struck Enrique and he forgot to introduce himself (during the conversation he learned her name was Taylor and she was 28). To her left was John,30, a youthful man whose head was topped with speckled grey hair.

In front of him was Brandon, a young man, 24, who radiated an energy of youthful happiness that was impossible not to admire. To his left was Cepheus, smiling, joyful, and 25-years-old, he had a beaming smile and energetic eyes. To his right was Maria Elena, 24, she had provoked in Enrique a feeling of life-circumstances-connection that he hadn’t felt in a long time (she too had moved to the United States from Latin America at the age of 8). She had welcoming brown eyes and a devilish smile.

This would be the round table of yet-to-be friends that would experience a unique bonding event.

The 7 of them sat and opened themselves up with an adult timidness, perfectly aware of the vulnerability they are exposing but uncaring of the possibility of judgement. They were driven by the desire to connect with like-minded people in a city of 26 million. Through bits of laughter, they discussed their recent relationships, some of their world-saving dreams, their love for parties, exploring the world, and what they would like to do for the rest of the day. They ate a typical brunch of waffles, croque monsieurs, and chilaquiles,

[for the uninitiated chilaquiles is a Mexican dish consisting of tortilla chips drenched in either green or red salsa with eggs and cheese].

These were accompanied by Bloody Marys, Mimosas, and coffee to fight the hangover from the previous day’s “networking event”.

“I think the horse track opens at 1, it’s 12:30, should we go, or do we want another drink here?” Cepheus asked.

They all looked around at each other’s faces with curiously hesitant eyes, “Let’s stay here for one more and go,” said Enrique.

They sat with their new drinks in hand and took in the sights of La Condesa, a beautiful neighborhood hidden away from the business sectors north, east, and west of it. They sat while an Argentinian couple sang them songs out of their guitar case. They saw as the police arrived after someone’s purse had been snatched. They witnessed an eccentric French couple walking an enormous Great Dane through the tree-lined sidewalk that divided the road in two. They saw as the traffic light went from green to yellow, to red, and how this didn’t deter cars to continue driving through the intersection, followed by the fractured symphony of honks given by haggard drivers.

They felt and saw the pulse of Mexico City.

“Is everyone done?” Enrique inquired.

“Sadly yes” quipped Taylor.

“Let’s get it!” Cepheus exclaimed.

“The check please?” Enrique signaled to the waiter in the universally-Mexican-understood hand waving motion in the shape of an “S”.

They paid and were about to leave when they learned that one member had already been taken by the dangers of the Mexican Streets, “Hey guys, I think I’m going to call it quits” John winced.

“What’s wrong?” asked Maria Elena.

“He rolled his ankle on a divot on the sidewalk yesterday” answered Brandon as he helped John sit back down.

“Fuck dude that sucks” responded Enrique.

“You guys go ahead; I’ll see if I can catch up with you later” John responded through a brave face, waiving them to go on while ordering a ride.

“Okay man, but we’re going to wait here with you until it arrives,” Enrique said.

“Sure, thanks” winced John

As soon as John said the last “s” of “thanks” his ride pulled up. He got in with the aid of Brandon and Cepheus while Enrique looked for the next ride. The girls had at this point already ordered and gotten their ride to the horse races, “We’ll meet you there, it’s easier if we divide ourselves” Maria Elena had said.

Upon arriving the boys hurried to the entrance to meet the girls. “I can’t wait until we are all back together,” thought Enrique. They quickly arrived at the entrance to meet with the girls.

“It’s about time you arrived” quipped Maria Elena.

“Yeah, I know” Enrique slowly responded, wiping the sweat off of his brow. "Why the fuck did I wear these tight-ass skinny jeans?" he thought to himself.

“Did you get lost?” Inquired Cindy.

“Yeah, a little but it’s okay. Let’s go! I want to gamble away some money” responded Cepheus.

They quickly bought their tickets, seats with a table and ample view of the large track to satisfy everyone’s desire to continue drinking [the table] while watching the horse race [the ample view]. While they looked for their seats and got lost in the process, Enrique asked Cepheus “Hey man how do you bet at these things?”

Cepheus energetically responded, “Okay so you have to look for a few things, first you want to look at their current record, then you want to look at their parentage, then you want to look at their competition, then you also just have to say fuck it at some point” he and Enrique chuckled at the last part. They found their seats and walked down the stairs taking in the view of the track and the size of the seating area. “Hey, Maria Elena, can you watch our things while we go get drinks?” Asked Enrique. “Yeah sure” responded Maria Elena. They all left their items with her and quickly raced up to the stairs to get a “traditional” Mexican drink, micheladas.

[For the uninitiated, a michelada can vary in size but they are often 40 oz of beer with lime, salt, and a tangy-sweet sticky substance called chamoy around the rim with a sprinkling of tajin]

They grabbed their massive drinks barely being able to hold the paper cup that contained them and very carefully walked back down the stairs to their seats, facing the massive racetrack in front of them. They all sat down in the order they descended with Cepheus at the very end of the table, followed by Brandon on his right, Maria Elena on his right, Taylor on hers, Enrique on Taylor’s right, and Cindy on his right, all facing towards the track.

With a lot of anticipation, curiosity, and a general lack of knowledge, they watched as the horses got ready for the first race. In the background, the announcer’s voice could barely be understood through the muffles of the broken speakers. They saw the lights on the announcement board go from red, yellow, to green and GO!

The horses are off!

At once when the horses started racing all 6 friends began to yell, in unison for, well, any horse to win.

As soon as the race started, it was over.

“Is that it? It was 45 seconds” asked Enrique.

“Yeah, that was kind of bullshit” responded Taylor.

“I thought that it would be longer,” said Cindy.

“Yeah it’s quick but it is exciting. It’s better when you bet” responded Cepheus.

“Let’s bet on the next one,” said Enrique

“Hold on let’s look at the program,” said Cepheus

As they pulled up the pdf of the program on their phones Cepheus burst out in laughter, “There is a horse on here named Balzac!” [read out loud].

“No fucking way” responded Taylor and Enrique in unison.

“What!” yelled Maria Elena.

Brandon couldn’t contain himself and started laughing hysterically, slipping down his chair.

“I can’t believe it!” Exclaimed Cindy.

“Yeah, he’s right here, Balzac,” said Cepheus through his intense laughter.

“How is that even possible?” Inquired Maria Elena.

“I Googled it and he’s a French author? Fuck if I know,” said Enrique.

“Whatever who cares, let’s bet,” said Cepheus.

“Okay we’re betting completely on him, right?” said Enrique.

“Of course,” responded Cepheus.

Enrique and he walked, or more like leaped in bounds, up the stairs to the betting booths.

“500 pesos on Balzac in first,” said Cepheus to the gambling teller.

“500 pesos? Man I’m doing like 100” said Enrique.

“Go big or go home, right?!” responded Cepheus with a lot, a lot, of enthusiasm.

Enrique chuckled and placed his 100 pesos on Balzac.

They returned to their seats, chuckling, and excited for this race.

As Enrique went to sit down next to Taylor she asked, “So did you put it all on Balzac?”

“Of course,I always have faith in Balzac” responded Enrique.

“Don’t we all” chuckled Taylor.

Cindy overheard this conversation and got into a fit of chuckles, her face turning so red and her breaths becoming so shallow that she could barely squeak out, “I’ve always loved Balzac.”

At this, all 6 burst into a fit of laugher. The other attendees of the race looked at them with confused gazes, “Surely they must think, ‘Goddamn Gringos’” thought Enrique, “Fuck it” he quietly said to himself as he took a sip of his beer.

As their laughter died down the announcer began to say whatever muffled words are said before the race, when the 6 of them thought they had heard Balzac’s name announced they began to chant “Balzac! Balzac! Balzac!” while pounding their fists on the table.

The lights again went from red, to yellow, to green, and GO! Off went the horses!

Enrique began to pound the table in a drumming rhythm building anticipation for the horses. Taylor yelled “Fuck yeah Balzac!” Cepheus yelled, “Let’s get it, Balzac!” Cindy yelled “Woo Balzac!” Maria Elena chanted “Balzac! Balzac! Balzac!” Brandon gave out a strong “ Yeah Balzac!” while clapping.

Through their energy and emotion, they watched as Balzac began to slowly take the lead, leaving behind Midnight Run, IsabellaMyLove, and RighteousThunder. His long legs hit the ground with graceful strength, hoof after hoof, beat after beat, gaining slowly against all the others. Until, at last, Balzac was clearly in the lead. Balzac is the winner!

The 6 went wild, “WOO!” they all yelled, “Fuck yeah!” yelled Cepheus, “That’s fucking awesome,” exclaimed Taylor. “Fucking sick,” said Enrique.

Enrique, Taylor, Brandon, Maria Elena, and Cindy were all bent over in laughter while Cepheus went to collect today’s “winnings”, but the true prize was that they had experienced a once-in-a-lifetime event, a winning Balzac.