No Problem
By Goose
Disclaimer: Newsies belongs to Disney. In fact, I shouldn't even be getting them out to play. Don't tell, okay?
Summary: "Guys lose everything to these tracks, but I ain't worried. I mean, if I got nothing to lose, then it's not a problem. I don't have a problem." Racetrack contemplates his namesake.
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It's seduction. The smell, the sounds, everything is calculated to lure in people like me. Some of us are lucky, and some of us only think we are. A lot of folks here got problems. No sense of when to call it quits. They just keep betting and betting till they got nothing left to bet with.
But not me. I got a system. I buy me papes, hitch a ride down to Sheepshead, do my selling, then I do my betting. Sometimes I do good, sometimes not so much. But I like the thrill and I like high stakes. If I occasionally have to miss a meal or bum some papers, I can live with that. I can't live without my racetracks, though. Not a chance. But it's not a problem.
I mean, look at some of these guys. They're gambling their lives away. I seen fellows get piss-drunk over these things. I heard of fellows who couldn't take the chances, couldn't live with their losses, and so they didn't. Guys lose everything to these tracks, but I ain't worried. I mean, if I got nothing to lose, then it's not a problem.
I don't have a problem.
Maybe my hot tips haven't been so hot lately. Maybe I've had to miss more than the occasional meal. Maybe I can't always pay for the lodging house. Maybe I haven't seen my friends as often as I used to. But I ain't like those guys I told you about. I can stop anytime, I just don't want to yet, ya know? It's not like I got nothing left. It's not like I have a problem.
Because it's not a problem.
Stop looking at me like that.
Listen, how's about I prove it, huh? How's about I prove I don't got a problem? I can do it, because it's true. There is absolutely nothing wrong here. I am in no danger. I just like the tracks, all right? So I'll show you.
How much ya wanna bet?
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Author's Note: I maybe should have warned you that I've never written a Newsies fanfiction before, but I didn't want to scare you off. Still, I don't think it's too bad for a first try. Review?