Chapter 21

Martha the MILF

The next few weeks were a whirlwind for Tanya. She was sent to our HMO physicians and dentists for checkups and remedial work. We were all gratified to find she got a clean bill of health from the Doc's and only needed a few fillings and elected to not have her near perfect teeth straightened. Lisa found a good on-line program for High School equivalency courses and Tanya, as we expected, tested into 12th grade level and was sure to get her diploma, not just a GED, within six months.

By the time her week's stay at Red Gables was over, Sandi had found a nearby black family to take her in. But she was ill at ease there, as the family seemed to worry that she might revert to her old lifestyle and friends despite her showing no sign, whatsoever, of doing that. She moved to Sandi's apartment for a short time but found the travel required ... about 45 minutes each way by bus, to be a little daunting.

Finally Sandi suggested she move in with us, Mandy having moved out to live with 'Big Cock Mike' as Sandi referred to him - to irritate me, no doubt.

I had no problem with that ... primarily because of what Sandi had found when she interviewed Tanya's parents.

Sandi had expected them to be of solid middle class stock and bearing but was surprised that they were far better educated and articulate than she was.

Her father was suspicious of both Tanya's and our motives in the venture, but clearly hoped that what was presented was true. When he found that I was involved, 'some middle aged whitebread' as he called me, he thought it might be some sort of upscale white-slave operation ... especially as all the other people involved were female. He'd never heard of the clothing line, of course, and was only somewhat mollified to find his ex-wife was familiar with it. But Sandi pulled no punches:

"We're not talking about sex, Mr Wilder, we're talking about Tanya's desire to turn her life around and make you proud of her."

Wilder wasn't convinced, from his expression, so Sandi hit him between the eyes.

"Let's not be hypocritical, sir ... if Tanya had followed your template for her, become a success in both college and her career, and you later found she had slept with some professor and later managers in her company to further herself, of course you wouldn't like it, but how critical would you be of her for doing that?"

Wilder had no answer for that, of course, and he might have thought of something in his own past to make him more reluctant to pursue the issue; no way of knowing how much we knew about him, of course.

Finally he agreed that Tanya seemed to be on the right track and called his ex-wife to recommend that she cooperate with Sandi in the interview.

Martha Wilder, though, was much more excited at her daughter's new prospects, so her ex's recommendation was probably moot.

Of course, she wanted to understand completely, why the foundation was formed and why her daughter was selected, but after hearing some of the women's stories, she was satisfied.

And she wanted to speak with Tanya, immediately and pleaded with Sandi to convince Tanya to come and see her ... or at least meet her for lunch.

But Tanya had said she preferred not to meet with her parents until she had achieved her own short-term goal, to get her diploma, have a self-supporting job, and be totally free from her old life for a year.

"That way I can be totally proud of what I've done and they can be proud of me" she had put it.

When Sandi relayed that comment to her mom, Martha laughed.

"Yes, that's my Tanya ... hardheaded as always. That's what got her in trouble, and what I prayed would get her out of it. She always did do things her way."

Martha, though, asked if she could meet all of us and see the company setup.

Sandi saw no reason she couldn't and I agreed so we arranged to have Martha visit while Tanya, between school and work, was occupied elsewhere. Sandi and Martha showed up at 12 after they had toured the operation and Martha had met Lisa.

Martha was a striking petite mocha skinned woman of forty some years who carried those years well ... somewhat reminiscent, I thought, of Lena Horne.

I had arranged lunch from Cirardi's and we sat on the pool apron for lunch. Martha had what seemed a thousand questions and we answered all but personal issues on the women, Mandy and Mary, who weren't present. But she seemed more interested in the casuals line we sold.

"I buy your stuff, whenever I can." She gushed "I spent three hundred dollars on that line for the cruise I took last winter!"

I thanked her for her business and she smiled broadly and cracked; "Well, I ALSO could blame you for messing up my relationship with my boyfriend. I got so many looks and guys flirting with me, that he broke up with me because I liked that so much."

I smiled back and winked. "I'm afraid not, madam, if you look closely you'll see the disclaimer where we're not responsible for any broken relationships or marriages, etc ... after all, you cant dress up a sow pig by hanging ear rings on her."

That could have been taken wrong, of course, but she just laughed and took it as the compliment intended and winked at me. The rest of the conversation that day was small talk, but it was clear from the way Martha spoke, that she was duly impressed and thrilled that her daughter had hooked up with our company.