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

CHAPTER 15

Ginny and I froze. “Did you hear what I heard?” she asked. “Do you think MacDonald's will be involved?”

“You know, I think I heard MacDonald's name this morning. Listen, the news is back.”

The two reporters went through the normal joking with each other, then they got serious.

“Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Howe held a press conference early this morning in front of a trucking company in Newburyport. We'll go to our reporter on scene; Harvey what do we know?”

“Apparently local and State Police raided MacDonald trucking company late last night
seizing over $1,000,000 in heroin and cocaine, and $500,000 in cash. District Attorney Howe stated that the raid was made after a long investigation. The drugs were moved in the company's trucks across New England. The police are also looking into the disappearance of Gene Thomas, a truck driver who has been missing for ten days. At this time the D.A., said that Mr Thomas was wanted for questioning only. We'll have more on that at eleven, now onto the fire in Revere.”

I turned off the TV, looked at Ginny, and said “You may be off the hook, kiddo.”

“They made no mention of Morales. Remember, I can tie him to MacDonald and shipping the drugs up here; besides, I like being your cousin, I now have family, and boobs!” Ginny giggled, “Hey Prince Harry is still single, you know.”

With that, she struck a pin-up pose. “Am I hot, or what?”

“Ginny, we need to talk seriously about this, is the danger greater or not?”

Ginny thought for a minute. “Ellen, I honestly think Morales will double his efforts to find me. Don't be surprised if those two tame Boston cops come around again.”

“Oh yeah, what were their names again, I forget.”

Ginny laughed, “The one who hit on me was Maroney, the Sargent was Spanos, I think.”

“How can you remember that?” I asked.

“That's why they want me so bad, I don't forget anything, I have an adiabatic memory.”

“Whoo, that's a fifty cent word that doesn't come up in every day conversation. Is that what we called a photographic memory?”

“Click!” Ginny said with a grin. ”Gotya.”

“Why don't you start dinner, Ginny,and I'll look into getting you insured. The more I can do on line the better.”

I went into the den and booted up the desktop, went back into the kitchen and grabbed a Diet Pepsi. By the time I got back, the box was asking for my password. I typed in 'Daisy', and the screen opened up. I typed in Mass Health, and scanned the options, looking for 'new member'.

I found what I needed, sign up at masshealthconnector.gov. The best way to enroll they said was online. This was wonderful, we'd do this after supper. About this time Ginny called me to dinner. Feeling in a celebratory frame of mind, I grabbed a bottle of Riesling, I didn't care if it went with what dinner was or not.

Luckily, neither of us was a wine snob, so it went well with ravioli and meatballs. After the dishes were in the washer, and the pots washed, we trooped into the den. I clicked on Explorer, and typed in Masshealthconnector.gov and went to applications.

Anyone can join if their income is under $16,000 a year. All you must be is a citizen of the USA and the Commonwealth of Mass. Check, Check, and Check!

We proceeded to fill out the online application, provided a charge card for payment, and presto! Ginny was now insured for $30 a week. Not bad, mine costs me $297 every two weeks.

“Now, all we need to do is hook you up with a doctor, and you can get started on your way to womanhood, if that is still what you want to do.”

“Yes, oh yes! Now that I've lived as a woman, this is definitely what I want. I don't care if Morales is dead or not. I'm Ginny! If you don't want to help anymore, I'll figure it out and go it alone.”

With that, she broke down in tears, blubbering like a teenage girl. Apparently the hormones Ginny had are working.

I slid over and put my arms around her, saying, “You are not going on this journey alone, after all, you're my younger cousin Virginia. Now stop crying on my clean sweatshirt.”

She ran off to fix her mascara and wash her face, she's a girl alright. When Ginny came back, I asked if she wanted to see a doctor to start the long process of sex reassignment. She answered that was the idea, so I said let's see if my endocrinologist had an opening.

“This the woman I see for my diabetes treatments. Her name is Singh, she is so nice, you'd love her. This way we bypass one doctor. What do you say?”

“Sure, you're the one who knows what to do, I'm lost,” Ginny stared at the floor for a minute. “She'll know I'm a guy, is that safe?”

“The only way to safely obtain hormones is through a doctor, you need to trust someone, and she is the one to trust,” I sighed. “Look, Ginny, I'll call her nurse tomorrow to see if she has an opening we can fit you into, now what's for desert?”

We watched a couple of television shows. At ten o'clock I switched over to the news on the Fox channel.

The only thing different on the drug bust was that they were looking for a man whose photo was shown. The police gave no name, but it was Morales. He also was wanted by the State police for questioning in the disappearance of Gene Thomas.

We turned off the tv and headed for bed. Tomorrow was another day, another day to help my house guest on her trip to high heels and sore feet.

To be continued

Many thanks to Bronwen for checking puncuation and typos