Hardly a new song

Josie was troubled, but not about her hand, even if it was possibly infected. She got a shot and some meds.

This was not suppose to be this way. She called Vada when she was in the restroom at the hospital.

"Oh my God!" Vada said first thing, all concerned about her hand and what kind of people worked at that thrift shop. She didn't know her hand was that bad. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." Josie wasn't worried about her hand, it was Henry, she was deep in thought about. "I..I'm just worried about Henry." Josie couldn't help to bring it up again about what she overheard.

"What?" Vada's voice cracked with emotion.

"I..know you think its nothing, but you know, what was his mother talking about? Does Henry have a different Dad?" Josie sighed as she struggled with the phone and trying to get out of the stall before the iPhone slipped and fell in the toilet. "Its just..its been bothering me." She knew she should be talking to Vada about the trip " ..Uh..how's the trip going?"

"It's fine." There went Vada as vague as usual. "The weather is just..you know..lovely." She sighed. "Just stop worrying?" She told Josie she thought they'd moved in too fast. "I mean, how did that happen..he gets the apartment at the snap of the fingers? Why? Why couldn't you guys wait until October..or until I got back."

"Well, he couldn't pass it up. Somebody who works there is a patron he knows..and I dunno..it just happened and ..and we took it. He can even walk to work." Josie felt she was on rewind with this conversation. She really needed to go before her mother wondered if something awful happened to her in the restroom.

Vada was furious. Why did Josie even call? She didn't really tell her anything. Henry had already made a video of the apartment. He was on cloud 9. But what was going on now? And had anyone heard from Frankie? Naturally, he hadn't called. And she hadn't called him, out of being peeved with him, for not calling.

Yes, it was a beautiful trip. And Alo's mom was so down to earth. Not at all, what she'd expected. Still, there was school to catch up on, back home. She'd barely started a new year and was now  away.

They'd taken long strolls and eaten the local foods. Alo's cousin Bear showed them around. Still, she couldn't get over his name. He was hardly a bear. In fact, he was a wee adorable thing who was not at all, what she expected. Still, he looked like someone Alo would be there for. He was in his A levels. Bear hoped to go into animal science, some day.

But it was hard to enjoy these new adventures with Alo and his family, while all this mystery was going on back home. She was certain it was Aidan who had a different father. Speaking of which, she'd learned a great deal about Bear's father from Alo's mother.

Why had she trusted her with this information? Oh, the family secrets she had to carry. And of course, never breathe a word of it to Alo. She wanted to forget that Bear was actually Alo's brother, but she couldn't.

Oh, the agony. And Josie thought she had problems.

Just as she got off the phone, in came a text.

Vada winced hard. She thought it was from Essie, because there was a new photo of her baby.

I GOT A JOB!

Vada didn't get it. She winced, wondering why would Essie get a new job. She'd just had a baby.

It was from Taylor. She'd forgotten she'd even given him her number. Of course, it was work related. He was going to take some of her hours in shelving while she was away. Did he have her job now? She wondered.

He then told her he got on with Pepsi, but not to worry..Ben would make sure to cover her hours.