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

CHAPTER 13

We pulled into the site at 6:45 expecting no one else would be there, but there was Steve's pickup truck, with him inside.

“It's about time you ladies got here, you're missing half the day.” He said “Sleep in?”
“Don't start with me Steve Brady, or I'll turn around and go home” I yelled back.

“Hey, I thought your cousin wanted to ride with me today?, Never mind then.”
With that Ginny flew out of my car and hopped in the seat of the truck. “I'm ready, let's go!”

Steve and I both laughed at that. “C'mon Ginny let's have coffee first.” I said opening the office door, “Plenty of time for that.”

With that the three of us went inside and found seats. Ginny made three cups of coffee and passed them around. Once everyone had a sip Steve started. “Here's the deal. A pal up in Salisbury can fix you up with everything, including a charge card, but it's going to cost. He's the best, and charges that way.”

“How do you know the guy?” I asked.

“We were in Iraq together, and I saved his ass once, since then, he'll do anything for me.” He looked at me and Ginny, “Bottom line, five grand for everything.”

I jumped in before Ginny could say anything, “That's a lot of money, Steve”

“Don't worry, I cover it, you can pay me back in installments when you can afford it, I'm in no hurry.”

Steve stood up, “You ready, Ginny, lets go !

Off they went to parts unknown, at least to me, I didn't want to know. I just hoped Ginny's secret stayed secret.
After about five hours I heard Steve's truck return. I could see Ginny's grin from my desk. Looks like everything went well.

Ginny ran inside and tossed a driver's license on my desk. “Meet Virginia Hansen from Swampscott!”

“Looks like things went ok, did you two have lunch yet” I asked. “If not, it's on me. .We can go to Kelly's in Saugus, you two can tell me about it over clam plates.”
There was a stampede for the door, as those two hopped into the Explorer, leaving me to lock up the office.

We got to Kelly's and stood in the long line, what a money maker the places are.
Steve told me to grab a clean table, he and Ginny would get the food.
Hum, something may be happening with those two, I need to talk with Ginny.

After 15 minutes they came back wit three piles of golden fried clams. “How much Steve” I asked, “under 100 I hope.”

“It's on me, how often do I get a chance to dine with such attractive company?”

Oh oh.

“Tell me how it went you two, you weren't gone that long.”

Steve went first, “ Bobby was waiting for us when we pulled up, he had every thing set up like a studio. First he did the driver's license, Ginny stood in front of a background like the Registry of Motor Vehicles has. He said not to smile too much, make it look legit. Next he took a photo for a passport.
Those were finished in about 45 minutes. He handed her a Visa charge card with a 10,000 dollar limit, along with the passport and license. “See me in four years when that one expires.” he joked. “Oh yea, here's a couple of birth certificates, You never know when you'll need one.”

I looked at Ginny, “You want to add anything? Or did Steve cover it all?”
“Sorry, I still can't believe it. It was so fast. After we left Bobby's we drove slowly down the coast roads. It's so beautiful in the Fall, all the colour.”

We finished our dinners and headed for the car. “Salads tonight, I think I just put on five pounds.”

We arrived back at the office about 3 PM. Steve slid into his truck and told us to take off, he'd lock up. Will wonders never cease! Must be Ginny, he never did that for me.

On the way home we stopped to buy some lottery tickets for the big drawing, 500 million dollars, can you believe it !

As Ginny and I went inside, she exclaimed, “Darn, I wanted to get ice cream for later, can I have the keys?” as she said it a brand new license was waved in the air in front of my nose.

“Here you go, don't look for that cute cop.” Ginny stuck out her tongue as she ran down the steps to the car.
I guess she's a girl, Gene would never have done that.

Later, after hot fudge sundaes, the topic of sexual orientation surgery came up. Ginny showed me a few sites on my laptop that offered every thing Hotels, rehab, you name it.

“That reminds me, you need your own laptop. When we get done with that, I'll pull up Ebay and show you some reconditioned Dell 630s . That's where I got the one you're using now.”

Look, why don't we look at Thailand tomorrow, I want to look at TV tonight.
With that she turned off the sound ,but stayed on that site, making noises through the news. “Bed time!” I shouted, “hit the hay, kid “

To be continued

Many thanks to Bronwen for fixing typos and grammar