"	Gene's Story or How I Gained a Cousin A novel by Karen Lockhart Copyright 2016

CHAPTER 27

Dinner was delicious; Ginny really is a great cook, I'm sorry, chef. The turkey was nice and moist, sliced to perfection. I really have to ask her to show me how to carve a roast bird. She took Stove Top dressing, added something to it, and made it taste like mother used to make. Mashed potato with white turnip, fresh asparagus, and gourmet cranberry sauce completed the main course.

All you heard for thirty minutes was chewing and silverware clicking on the china plates.

Oh my, I thought. I'm eating too much, but I can't help myself. Everything tastes so good! Damn! I must leave room for cheesecake and coffee.

Finally, everyone pushed their plates away, and sat back.

“That was incredible Ginny,” Kevin said. ”The gravy and stuffing were out of this world. It's been a long time since I had a turkey dinner like that, delish!”

I added my praise to Kevin's, and this caused her face to turn crimson, and she became tongue-tied.Oh boy, is she hung-up on him.

While Kevin helped Ginny clear the table and put the left-overs in the fridge, I made a real pot of coffee, and put the cheesecake on the counter alongside plates and desert forks. Somehow we found room for a generous slice each.

“Kevin, now that we're finished dinner, we owe you a further explanation about Ginny, and why she's living with me. Why don't we pour some coffee, and sit on the couch. Ginny and I will tell you a story that's right out of a television show.

Ginny and I took turns recounting what happened; from Gene overhearing the plans for shipping drugs, my hiding him when they came looking for him, to her coming with me to the office working as my secretary.

“I didn't intend to lead you on, but for the first time in my life, I felt like a real woman, and wanted to show it off,” she said. “What I didn't expect was to fall in love with you.”

Before she could continue, Kevin jumped in.

“Ginny, are you a man or a woman? I have to know. I'm not gay, but you make me doubt whether or not I am. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Oh Kevin,” Ginny wailed, “you're not gay, neither am I. It's just so hard to explain this. I'm a woman in my mind, I have been since I was six years old. I would dress up in my sister's clothes when she was out. If a woman is attracted to a man, that's not homosexuality, no matterwhat kind of plumbing her body has.”

She looked at me for help. “Ellen help me out with this, can you?”

I took a deep breath, aware of two sets of eyes fixed on my face. “Alright, here goes, Ginny is on a drug called Aldactone. This is an anti-androgen, which means it suppress testosterone. She has an appointment with another doctor on Friday. If things go okay, this doctor will put Ginny on a powerful hormone, Oestrogen.
This will have the effect of improving her skin, creating curves and breasts, and making her moods swing all over the place. After living as a woman for at least a full year while taking these hormones, her doctors may recommend her for surgery. It's a long road, and she will need a lot of support from friends and family.”

Kevin was taken back at this. “A year and a half! Wow, they want no errors, I guess.”

“We have a bigger problem, it's Morales. He's hot after Gene. The big raid at McDonald's Trucking last week took some heat off, but Ginny overheard plans and names of guys that move drugs up and down New England. If the State Police get her testimony, a lot more will go to prison including Mister Morales. To make things worse, Ginny found and kept $50,000 in cash stored in a compartment under the passenger seat of his truck.”

I could see Kevin was getting upset, thinking about Morales and Ginny.

“So you see how important it is that no-one sees through me and comes up with Gene,” Ginny put in. “Half the time I'm terrified people will see through the make-up and laugh at me, the rest of time I'm just scared.”

“What can I do to help?” Kevin asked “I'm in this for the long haul, what ever you need, just ask and it's yours.”

“That is so good to know, but right now all I need is a hug.” Ginny stood up and held out her arms. With no hesitation Kevin stood and walked into her outstretched arms.

“I could use a hug too,” I said feeling like a third wheel.

Hugs and kisses over, every one pitched in with the dishes, and no, I never got my hug.

Afterwards, we returned to the living room to talk strategy.

I explained just how important it was to maintain the stories we told about Ginny's past.

“Two police departments know Ginny as my cousin. The story is, she used to live on Cape Cod with her boyfriend. This relationship ended when she came north to live with me. It was an abusive relationship, and we must assume her ex-boyfriend is looking for her. This will explain why Ginny and I are careful about where we go, and why we try to stay in the background.”

“We never expected Morales would show up at the barn, and that I'd be having riding lessons with his daughter. Any ideas on how to get around this?”

Kevin and Ginny were silent, thinking about a solution to this problem.

Kevin looked up. “What would happen if Ginny became friends with Tina? Morales would never expect the guy he's looking for to be his daughter's girlfriend.”

“I like that idea,” I said. “That might also stop him from trying so hard to have Ginny grab a drink and more with him.”

Ginny looked at Kevin. “No matter how much he flirts with me, you can't butt heads with him.He'll have you taken care of. You don't know him like I do.”

“He should be less likely to go after Ginny romantically with his daughter looking on. I think he would like to hit on all her friends,” I added.

“Ellen's right Ginny, I think Tina would be pissed at the old man if he did this. None of her friends would ever be comfortable around him if he hit on them.”

I looked at the two of them and said, “We have a plan. Saturday I'll introduce my 'cousin' to Tina, saying she has no friends up here, just her boring older cousin who goes to bed at 10 pm. She needs friends her age.”

“Speaking of bed, it's getting late. Ginny and I have to hit the feathers, we get up at 5 am.”

Well, I went to bed, I assume Ginny went to bed, but with company. This wasn't my plan, but what the heck, just how much could happen? They're only going to snuggle, right?

To be continued.

Many thanks to Bronwen for fixing the typos and grammar.