The trap doors sprang open with a thud and the greyhounds began chasing after the mechanical hare as if their lives depended on it. A stadium of drunken spectators cheered on as the crazed canines furiously followed the robotic rodent, even though neither parties – the dogs and the people – would see much benefit from the end result. Most would walk away empty handed, aside from the few lucky ones who might have won the odd quid or two, and the winning greyhound would end up with a mouthful of wool and silicon chips and would spend the night in a kennel.
Nevertheless, no soul at the racetrack had a care for the future – all were living in the now, floating on the buzz of exhilaration caused by being in the company of hundreds of other tipsy humans watching a bunch of dogs fuelled by excitement and Pedigree.
This was a completely different picture to the Ladbrokes betting shop in Cumbernauld, where Gerard Way was watching the race on a knackered TV hanging off the wall on a badly fitted wall bracket. In a dirty Gola tracksuit – a complete contrast to the trademark uniform he wears on stage when playing with his band My Chemical Romance – Gerard was definitely eager to watch the dog race to its conclusion, for he had a hundred pounds riding on dog number 5. A hundred pounds he oughtn't to have spent on a betting slip.
For that was a hundred pounds that was meant to be child support money.
Gerard held his betting slip tight – if he lost he wouldn't hear the last of it off his ex-wife, and God knows what sort of trouble she'd get him into with the local authorities. He definitely put his neck on the line this time.
Dog number 5 was in third place, slowly catching up with the two in front of him. With two turns left, Gerard squeezed the slip in his fist, creasing it a little. The faulty air conditioning system in Ladbrokes wasn't helping dry his sweating brow, never mind his tearing eyes. The dog was speeding up, but not quite quick enough.
And that's when it tripped up and broke one of its hind legs and had to be put down.
Dog number 2 won.
Gerard went home and cried.
