Mel Leonard

The Horse That Wouldn't Run Mel Leonard

Jason Travers is a divorced kitchen design sales rep from Burnaby, British Columbia. He has no kids; none that he is aware of anyway, and so alimony was never required, and he never remarried. With his fifty percent share of the marital home he bought a townhouse in a Burnaby suburb. That was in 2005. He was 30 years old at the time. It is now 2013, and he has just turned 38. He is quite handsome, tall, with softly waved blonde hair, and a terrific physique courtesy of his Dojo where he holds a Black Belt Fourth Dan. He has always been a Ladies man, and pursues them ardently, which is why he is divorced. He makes a good living earning on average $150,000.00 a year in sales commissions, but it isn't enough to support his lifestyle. As a result he has been taking money out of his home line of credit to pay for his extravagances, and is not paying down the principle, only the interest. The major reason why he cannot live within his means is because he is an addicted gambler, not at the casinos, but on the horses, and while at one time he was a successful punter he now loses more often than he wins. He knows that it isn't his fault, it's the horses fault. Why? Because how can it be his fault if the horse won't run?Jason's bigger problem right now is a bookie tied to crime, to whom he owes over $24,000.00, and he is demanding payment. He made his last interest payment seven weeks ago, and then stopped because he could not pay. Well, he could have, after all he had made over $4,000.00 a week in commissions each week for the past three weeks, but he refused to pay from his pocket, because he considers horse track racing a business and as such he feels that it is the profits of the business that must make the payments. The bookie sends two collectors to beat the money out of him, but instead he defends himself and knocks them out. He knows that he might not be so lucky the next time so he decides to go on the run. He also figures that if he stays below the radar the bookie will never catch him. Time will tell if he is right, for to stay hidden he must stay away from all racetracks. Now it remains to be seen whether he can maintain his required discipline or will he falter and risk discovery or worse?