Ginny's Story A novel by Karen Lockhart Copyright© 2017 Karen Lockhart All Rights Reserved.

CHAPTER 33

Ellen and I went to change and freshen up from riding and prepared to go to dinner at 'Spuds'. 'Spuds' is a local restaurant; nothing fancy, but three attractive ladies out on a Saturday night, must look their best! It's like 'catch and release' fishing. You really want a free drink sent your way, it shows interest on the part of the males. The clothing is the fishing lure, we are the hook.

All we heard on the ride to the restaurant was 'When can I start driving school?' and 'How much does one of those cute Fiats cost?'. I never was so glad to park a car. We decided to enter the bar, rather than put our names on a waiting list.

Thank goodness, Wendy looked older than her sixteen years, since all the tables were taken, but seats were available at the bar.

Ellen ordered a draft Sam Adams light, Wendy a diet coke. I got the same as Wendy, but added Captain Morgan spiced rum in mine. Ellen asked the bartender for three menus.

Wendy leaned towards me and asked what lobster tasted like. I told her it tasted like chicken. Ellen who overheard, muttered 'gold-plated chicken'.

I decided on the baked, stuffed haddock, fries, and a Caesar salad. Ellen talked Wendy into getting a lobster salad roll with French fries and coleslaw. She ordered fried scallops, fries, and coleslaw. After looking at me she ordered a nacho plate appetizer.

After the order went in, Wendy got nervous about the lobster roll. I assured her if she didn't like it, I'd eat it and we'd get her a cheese burger.

The nacho arrived, and the bartender said, “Don't worry honey, if you hate the lobsta, a burgha would take only a couple of minutes.”

After she left, Wendy giggled: “'A burgha, lobsta' where is she from?”

I looked at Ellen and said, “The cah ride heah took too long, there weren't a lot of slots in the paahking lot.”

Now Wendy looked funny at me! Ellen explained that's how we really talk in Boston, and she and I were being good around her with our accents. You can recognize a Bostonian anywhere by the way we speak.

The bartender laughed as she delivered my salad. “Your dinnahs should be ready in a couple of minutes.” She must have heard Wendy's remark after all.

Wendy was enjoying the nachos, so Ellen and I let her have them, warning her to save room for the 'lobsta'.

When dinner arrived, fortunately, she loved the lobster salad roll. I wonder what she'd think when she saw a boiled lobster that she had to shell.

We finished dinner and decided to get two Baked Alaskas to share three ways.

Sufficiently stuffed, we headed for the SUV. Half way home Wendy asked, “When did Kevin have tickets to see the Red Sox?”

To be honest, I had forgotten all about our triple date. “I'll call Kevin when we get home,” I said.

Other than relaxing the next day, we had nothing planned, so when my cell phone rang I was a little surprised. It was Kevin! Great minds work alike.

After snoggling over the phone for a few minutes, he reminded me the tickets were for Tuesday night. We should plan to bring jackets, it could get cold that time of year up so high. Before ending the call, Kevin asked Ellen to confirm with Pete.

Of course Wendy asked if she could call Kevin back and talk with Billy. I told her to go slow, let him call her.

We were tired from riding and Wendy's energy, so Ellen and I headed for our bedrooms. Ellen cautioned Wendy to keep the television's sound low before wishing her 'good night'.

Sunday was sunny and warm, a nice change. I made everyone French Toast with sausages and fresh squeezed orange juice.

After breakfast, I looked through the TV Guide and found a British movie called “The Dresser”. It sounded like a 'chick flick', so I put it on the huge flat screen television. It turned out to be great! It was about a Shakespeare company doing performances around Britain in 1942 during the air raids in London and other cities. The off stage dramatic overacting was funny, and intentional.

When the movie was over, it was time for lunch and the Red Sox game with the Cleveland Indians. Ellen thought we should watch the game and learn the names of the players.

That way, the boys wouldn't think we were just 'pink hats', woman fans who just wore the team's colors, but didn't know baseball.

Ellen spoke with Pete, who said not to worry about getting him his ticket before the game. He'd be waiting for us on the Green Monster. (In Fenway Park, this is a 37 foot wall in left field which causes nightmares for opposing teams, trying to figure out the ball rebound off it.)

Monday's doctor visit was mostly about Wendy. Doctor Singh only did a blood draw from me just to check my hormone levels.

She was very interested in Wendy's guardianship, asking me some tough questions about how she ended up living with Ellen and me. Finally satisfied, Doctor Singh gave Wendy a shot in her buttocks for a testosterone blocker and a mild estrogen pill, to start her off.

As you can imagine, the kid was in tears, she was so happy. We were told to make an appointment with her secretary in two weeks for Wendy and two months for me. As we were leaving, she gave Wendy a kiss on the cheek and a hug.

I don't think her feet touched ground until we got to the druggist's for her medicine. When we got back in the car, she swallowed her first dose.

“Want to practice driving again?” I asked, “There's a vacant parking lot just down the street.”

You know the answer.

I think Wendy was going into joyful overload, especially when I reminded her that tomorrow night, we were seeing the Red Sox with Kevin and Billy.

Tuesday afternoon, Kevin and Billy met us at the condo about 4pm. We decided to take Ellen's Explorer, with Kevin driving. Wendy and Billy couldn't wait to get into the third row seat and snuggle.

After a stern warning from Kevin to 'play nice' they separated a bit. He actually found a parking space close to Yawkey Way, and a very short walk to our seats!

We had decided to eat supper from the vendors at the park. The food was good and varied, not what you'd expect, boiled hot dogs on steamed rolls, yuck! We got pizza, pepper, onion and sausage rolls, and can you imagine lobster salad rolls? I bet you can guess which one Wendy asked for. We bought four light beers and two cokes. Sure enough, Pete was waiting at our seats, eating hot dogs, and French fries.

“The next drinks are on me, as a matter of fact, everything else is on me,” Pete said. Kevin started to protest, but stopped when Pete looked at him.

“So Pete, how did you get into the park, and how did you find our seats?” Ellen asked.

He just smiled, and showed us his Captain's badge. “This gets me in anywhere, and with the heightened security, it was a snap finding where our seats were.”

The game with Cleveland was exciting, going to extra innings, with several home runs hit our way. The Red Sox won in the eleventh inning with a home run by David Ortiz, hit right at Billy!

As we walked back to the car, Billy handed the ball to Wendy, earning a big kiss!

Pete said goodnight, thanking Kevin for the tickets, promising the next game was on him. He gave Ellen a quick kiss, saying he'd call her the next day. It was nice spending time with Pete and not thinking of Vinny Morales!

The Wednesday morning news paper had a big sketch on the front page, with the caption in big letters, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? Please call the Lynn police at 781-595-5555. Tina was sure to recognize him. So much for not thinking of Vinny!