THE FIRST BRIDGE

‘Fifteen two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, six for the sixes is eighteen, two for the nines twenty,’ he said then pegged it.
‘A full house,’ I said.
He pointed at the difference between us and said, ‘I wouldn’t back any horses today, if I was you.’
‘Or buy a lottery ticket,’ I said.
He lit the cigarette he’d put in his mouth.
‘Years ago,’ he said, ‘I used to go to Molly’s place out at Aust. There was a bookmaker would come in and if he’d had a good day he’d buy drinks all round.’
‘Give some money back to the punters,’ I said.
‘Molly used to play piano, she could knock out a tune.’
‘You’d have a singsong then?’
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘until they knocked her place down when they built the first bridge.’