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

CHAPTER 55

I woke to the sound of wind whipping around the corners of the building, and it was really dark. I looked at the clock; knowing the weather forecast, I hadn't set the alarm the previous night. OMG, it was 8:30am; it should have been lighter than that outside.

I put on my robe, and looked out of the French doors toward the ocean. I couldn't see through the windows because snow was caked over the glass, but I could feel the wind blowing through the doors.

About this time Ginny was up and looking out the front bay window. “Ellen come look at the snow drifts, they must be five feet high!”

I joined her at the window. ”Those aren't drifts, those are snow banks from the plows. I think it's coming down faster than they can push it back!”

I grabbed the remote, and turned on the local weather. The meteorologists were playing a tag-team, shuttling from one to another with dire forecasts. One fed off the other, finally evoking the ghost of the blizzard of 1978. Neither Ginny or I were born then, but I'd seen the books and videos of that storm. This was no 1978, no matter the frenzy the on-scene reporters were working up to. At 9am the Governor declared a state of emergency, closing all State offices, and requesting everyone to stay home. The list of school closures went on for ever, It would be easier to list those open that day, and maybe tomorrow. I had a feeling it would be a while before work started again on that Lynn project.

We passed up a shower, our eyes glued to the television set. It was quite a storm. Twenty inches had already fallen along the coast, with the possibility of eighteen inches more before it ended. Apparently, the storm moved in faster then expected, but might take longer to pull offshore.

I finally made a pot of coffee, and decided on instant oatmeal and toast for breakfast.

Ginny took down a box of Wheaties and a loaf of raisin bread.

The tide was almost at its highest. The TV showed waves breaking over the seawalls, aided by 40mph winds. A lot of roads were closed due to flooding; the Nahant Causeway and rotary were closed, the road to Marblehead Neck was closed, and several roads in Boston also were closed.

You couldn't pay me enough money to try traveling along Lynn Shore Drive, at least not until the tide went out.

Ginny and I finished breakfast and got dressed to face the day. I prayed the power and cable would stay on. The power in particular was important. If we lost cable, I had one of those doodads that received broadcast television, so we could watch the regular television stations and keep abreast of the storm.

This was a good time to go over Ginny's plans for GRS in Montreal once more.

“You've thought this through I hope? Once it's done there's no undoing it.”

“I know,” she replied. “I want this like nothing else I've ever wanted.”

I scratched my head,”How are you going to pay for this, I don't know if you can bring $25,000 across the international border without a lot of scrutiny.”

Ginny gave a little grin, “I opened an account with the Bank of Nova Scotia two months ago. Right now my balance is $25,000 Canadian. That's more than enough to cover my surgeries. I sent them $5,000 each week until I had that balance.”

Again, I had underestimated her. This is one sharp cookie. I should have her take a look at my finances.

“Well you have that covered, now what about the name change?”

Ginny paused a moment, “I think having a change in gender on the documents is as important as changing my name, don't you agree, Ellen?”

She was right. I was thinking of her becoming Virginia Hansen, but a male Virginia was just as bad. We really need legal advice on this. I want to run this by Steve Brady too; he got her a phony birth certificate in the name of Virginia Hanson, maybe that's enough to get the rest of the documents, a driver's license, and charge cards.

“Ginny, do you have a savings and checking account?”

“That's the first thing I did,” she answered. ”I'm worried about taxes and a Social Security Number that's on the up and up.”

I groaned, “I hadn't thought of those, this is becoming complicated.”

“Your idea of legal advise is the only way to go if I want to fix this identity stuff correctly. I wonder if Steve has any ideas?”

I found a book that I'd been meaning to read, but hadn't found the time, perfect. I poured a cup of tea and settled in, the television on in the background pounding away with doom and gloom.

The book took me to the Caribbean, on board a British brig patrolling the area for pirates or French Men of War. The right book to read with a blizzard blowing outside.

Ginny stuck her nose into her laptop, surfing the internet for I don't know what.

She said she found a site with stories written by a lot of people like her, trans-gendered.

She looked up, “Hey Ellen, some of these stories are really good, you should look at them.”

“Later,” I said. “I've got my nose into 1811, on board a ship of His Britannic Majesty, patrolling for pirates, near Aruba.”

“Alright, I'll print one out for you. Most of these have multiple chapters. I'm reading one about a trio of singers on a cruise ship. It's got a funny name, but turns out it's the name of the band.”

“Okay, show it to me after supper, speaking of which, what are we having tonight?”

“A New York Strip with baked potato and asparagus, a tossed salad, and pistachio ice cream for dessert.”

“That does it, I'm going to install surveillance cameras to find out how food is getting in here!”

Ginny laughed, “A girl must have some secrets, you know.”

It was still snowing after we finished supper. The news figured we'd receive a total of thirty inches along the North Shore with heavy pockets of snow on the South Shore. The governor was still requesting every one to stay home one more day.

I thought I'd give Steve a call, and find out what he wanted us to do the next day. The site needed to be plowed, so at least we could get to the office.

I got him on the phone. Every other word out of his mouth was a curse and I made it worse by laughing at him.

“I think I've been driving for two days,” he said. “I went to that football game, and I got home at 2am. It's a good thing my truck was filled with empty coffee cups.”

“Empty coffee cups?” I asked. “What for?”

“To pee in sweetheart, to pee in.”

“You guys have all the advantages, don't you? Peeing in a cup, jeeze.”

“Ellen, I'll plow out the site tomorrow, you and Ginny stay home until Wednesday.”

“Ginny, the boss says stay home tomorrow.”

With that the lights went out.