H.O.T. Properties

"It's not rape if the other party is willing, Tanya. I have the same going on inside of me. That experience will be hard to top. I would like you to do it to me someday just to see..."

"OK, but not tonight. My whole body is sore." They both laughed and took their breakfast to the agency to eat. Ophelia had beat them in and looked them over, noting both were favoring parts of their bodies.

"What happened to you two? Did you get in a wreck or something?" Ophelia inquired.

Tanya responded because Hollie had a bite of croissant in her mouth. "No wreck. We just celebrated a little last night."

"A little, my ass! Both of you are walking funny. I thought gay girls were all soft and sweet. Not like us straights."

Hollie had to add. "Fi, we didn't even touch each other. It was a mental sex bout and I've never come like that. We both passed right out. You should try it - you might like it."

"I'll tell you both something. If you ever find a man who has that kind of self control, sign him to a long term contract for me!" Ophelia challenged them.

Tanya rebutted. "Don't know any men like that but we might find a girl for you." They all broke up at that - it was an unspoken rule not to try to flip one another sexually. However, teasing was always allowed.

Tanya went to look for new properties to sell on the listings site. Hollie came in to see if she found anything yet, which she had not. There was a ping on Tanya's cell phone announcing an incoming email. She looked at it and started to cry. Tanya kept repeating "OH, NO!", shaking her head. Hollie had to find out what had so upset her.

"What is it, baby?"

"Rhonda Wilson is coming to visit me and my new roommate! My mother is the biggest homophobe in the Midwest! Why now?! We are just getting to really know each other."

"I know it's hard, Tanya, but she needs to know how you feel. Is this a threat to us?" Hollie was worried that this could upset her new love to the point of giving up.

"Hollie, I'm not going to leave you for her but I also hate hurting her. She is a racist as well as an anti-Semite. It's hard to like her but she is my mom. She wants to stay with us so she can get to know you."

"Tanya, you don't have to worry about me. I have no problem telling people where to get off the train, so to speak. I will stand with you, my sweet. You will not be alone."

Ophelia's voice came from the doorway. "Shit, Tanya. I heard and I will be happy to stand with you also. So would my mother - she is arriving tonight to visit. You, my partner, deserve to be in a relationship as much as anyone."

"Thank you both. I usually just take her alone and cry. I think that's what feeds her hate."

Ophelia was getting livid. "Fuck that! So she's a racist, too. I'll be glad to tell her we are lovers and go to the synagogue on Saturdays!"

Tanya smiled at that. "Just the fact that we are friends will set her off. I don't want to tell her lies just to hurt her. I also will not criticize my mother in that way. I would love for you to be there, Ophelia, and your mother is always welcome."

Hollie saw that Tanya was going to handle this well after a good cry. "Fi, we will have drinks and snacks for you and Donna while Tanya fetches her mother. Your mom, as I recall, is a firebrand of old and will not put up with browbeating of you."

"She has calmed down some, but if she has race thrown in her face it might get exciting. Tanya, Mom is a PhD psychologist and won't pick a fight. But she will win one."

"After this is over, I may need her services; my mom is so bigoted that I hate exposing anyone to her. I guess Hollie has no choice, since it's her house. Be very sure, Ophelia. Please discuss this with your mother. I don't want to offend her at our introduction." Tanya was worried. She knew this would be the showdown that had been brewing since her high school years.

That night the couple had no desire for intimacy, but Tanya needed reassurance. They sat and held hands while talking. Then Hollie's phone rang. "Hi, Fi, what's happening? Did your mom get in OK? Uh-huh, she's right here. Just a sec." She turned to Tanya. "Ophelia's mom wants to talk with you."

Hollie put the phone on speaker. "This is Tanya. You're on speaker so Hollie can hear also. Is that alright, ma'am?"

"Yes. How are you, Hollie? It's been a while. Tanya, my daughter has told me about your dilemma. I think I might be of some help if you will have me. Problems like yours can be traumatic for everyone involved."

Hollie jumped in first. "We are well, Dr. Jackson. It will be nice to see you again, even under these stressful circumstances."

Tanya spoke now. "Hello, I'm Tanya Wilson, Dr. Jackson. I know that my mother is a difficult person. I just hate to inflict her on anyone, ma'am. If you are willing to help, I would be proud for your company. I do hope we'll have time to get to know one another while you're here."

"Alright, girls. That's enough formality. Please call me Dawn. I must say I do appreciate your manners. Not often seen in today's world."

"I would be proud also to welcome you to our home, Dawn. What do you prefer to drink?" Hostess Hollie was on the job.

"I am a wino - either red or white. I would be happy to bring some with us as a gift to your home." Donna was also showing her gentility.

Tanya answered, "Your presence is all we desire. However, if there is a wine you prefer, please do bring it, Dawn."

"I'll see you both tomorrow. I do hope things will not be as bad as you and my daughter postulate, Tanya. We will deal with whatever comes. Good-bye, ladies." Both also said good-bye and the call ended. Tonya, feeling a little better after speaking to Dawn, started kissing Hollie's neck. Hollie turned to her with a look of pure love.

"Tanya, everything will be fine in the end. I'm here for you." Hollie gave a soft kiss back on Tanya's lips. They both got ready in their own ways for the next day's trials.

After work the next day, Tanya got a taxi to LaGuardia airport to pick up her mother while Hollie went home to prepare. Ophelia and her mother arrived before Tanya returned and were sitting getting reacquainted. Hollie heard the key in the lock and nodded towards the door. Everyone could see Rhonda Wilson's eye cloud at the sight of the two black women but Tanya pushed on. "Hello, everyone. This is my mother, Rhonda Wilson. Mom, this is my business partner, Ophelia Jackson, and her mother, Dr. Donna Jackson." Both ladies stood and offered their hands, which Mrs. Wilson stared at. Then she turned to Hollie. The woman was about five foot six inches. She was slender and had shoulder length dark brunette hair.

"Who's this, daughter?" Rhonda pointed to Hollie.

"Mother, this is also my partner, Hollie Perkins. She is also my girlfriend." Rhonda slapped her daughter hard on the cheek, glaring with abject hate.

"You chose to dishonor me with the presence of a sodomite and a pair of negro women? Find me a hotel, girl! I need to call my pastor to find out what I should do to try to save your soul! If it is not too late."

Donna was compelled to say something to the hate-filled woman. "Mrs. Wilson, your daughter expressed concern about your behavior to me. I thought she must be exaggerating. I see she was not. You are behaving very badly in someone else's home and should apologize. I'm sure your mother would be shamed by your behavior." Donna was baiting the woman. Rhonda swung a slap at her - Donna caught the open hand in midflight. "We don't strike our betters, do we?"

"Don't you dare correct me, you...you negro! Don't you know your place by now?" Rhonda was bright red with anger and shaking with rage. Tanya reached out and took her mother's hand from Donna then spun her around to face an enraged daughter.

"Mother, I would like you to leave and never contact me in any way ever again! Am I clear?" Tanya did not release the hand so Rhonda slapped with her other on the opposite cheek than the one previously hit. Ophelia and Hollie had had their fill. Hollie reached the fighting mother and daughter first. She grabbed Rhonda's other hand and spoke in a stern, quiet voice.

"I expected boorish behavior but this is not allowed in my home, by anyone. Will you get those papers off the kitchen counter, Fi?" Ophelia complied, handing them to Hollie. "This, madam, is a first class ticket back to your hometown. The flight leaves in three hours, and there is a taxi waiting to take you to the airport. Do you understand?"

"Get your fucking lesbo hand off of me, you whore! May you burn in hell! I don't need your ticket. God will provide for me. Daughter, I expect you to come with me so I can try to save your soul." Donna watched as the woman spiraled downward. She felt the need to interject.

"No airline will let a person in that agitated state board a flight. She needs to be taken to a psychiatric hospital to be treated." Donna spoke in her clinical voice. "Rhonda, will you sit down and talk to me please?"

"We have nothing to talk about. I will calm down and sit but there is no 'we'." Rhonda was beginning to realize she was so totally out of control she had just lost her eldest child.

Donna recognized that Mrs. Wilson was regaining her control. "Mrs. Wilson, where does your anger come from?" Rhonda glared at her questioner and then dropped her eyes in shame for what she had just done.

"I can't speak of it. Not with my child here. I have too much turmoil already." Tanya went to the stairs and up to her bedroom. She wanted her mother to be able to say what had hurt her. The mother watched her daughter with sorrowful thoughts. After she heard the door close, she started to explain herself. "When I was 13 my father caught me kissing a girl. She was in my school. We were just seeing what a kiss felt like. He became maniacal. He physically threw her out and started to rage over me. I was beaten and humiliated. Daddy called the pastor over to consult. Then things got very scary. The pastor was ignorant. I don't think he could even read. He told my father that I needed to have sex with him and my father so I would turn from Satan. My mother heard this and would not allow it. I was relieved until she told them she would beat Satan out of me. The next two years she whipped me at least three times a week. I was sure I would die." Rhonda was crying at this memory. Her blouse was getting wet. Hollie saw this and handed her a box of tissue. Donna let the woman compose herself. She had a good idea where this was going.

"Eventually I was offered to the pastor's son as his wife. His father made him accept. This started the most horrid part of my life. I knew I would be bedded by my new husband. His father wanted me also, as did my own. They brought in others I did not know to teach me the way of God. I was raped almost every day until I became pregnant. Then no one would touch me, not even Lester, my husband. Well, there was one who touched me: my mother found out I had been with my dad, and she beat me senseless. My husband divorced me as an adulteress. He had so many men to attest that I had sex them. I was alone in a town nearby when Tanya was born. I have no idea who fathered her. I blamed her for my problems. Some years later I married again, to a man who was a zealot who knew my past. He insisted I submit to him in every way. I did, so my girl would have a home. We had two children of our own. He named them, as was his right, Nathan and Ruth. He eventually tried to convert them all to his beliefs. I complied for Tanya's sake, but she resisted. I was punished for that weekly until he was arrested after a doctor saw my scars and turned him in. I managed to send my baby to school, but she had to work also, so she moved on. I am sorry to say I didn't." A high-pitched wail came out of Rhonda as she came comprehend the evil she had done to so many souls.

"So, in the end I became a bitter female version of my second husband. It was the only way I knew to cope. I am a deplorable excuse for a human. I knew then the pain I brought upon others. I just did not care. I have hurt my children and everyone I cared for, including my grandchildren. I am sorry for what I said to you all. I am the only pariah here and should be shunned by all who know me." Rhonda hung her head low, tears flowing like a spring flood during snow melt. She felt arms wrap around her and hug her tightly. Through her tears, she made out the long hair of her daughter's girlfriend. The feel of the woman was soothing to her.

"Rhonda, if you want to stay here, you are welcome to. I'm sure you need to rest and think in peace."

"Why do you treat me with kindness after the way I spoke to you?" Rhonda faintly asked.

"Ma'am, I've been gay all my life. You get used to rejection and bigotry. I can't take it personally and live happily," Hollie answered in her kindest tone, never even thinking to stop holding the now shaking Mother of her lover. "Fi, will you go get Tanya? I think Rhonda is done with her story of great woe."

Donna had to help the sad woman. "Mrs. Wilson, there is time for you to heal and try to mend relationships if you wish to. I can recommend several books that can show you the way."

"I don't remember your name, doctor, but I am sorry for my crass words." Rhonda apologized.

"My name is Donna Jackson, Mrs. Wilson. Please call me Donna or Dawn."

"I am Rhonda Wilson. I go by Rhonda or Ronnie." She held out her hand to Donna who shook it without a thought. Her daughter and Tanya were on the stairs when this happened. Tanya's loud gasp attracted her mother's attention. "Tanya, I am so sorry for the way I treated you and your friends. If you can ever forgive me, I will humbly accept."

Tanya's eyes were glued to Hollie hugging her mother. She had to regain her balance to finish the stairs.

Tanya's eyes turned to Dawn. "Damn, Dawn. You must be the best therapist on earth. Mom, are you OK being here now? What happened down here?"

Donna spoke to the obviously stunned woman. "No, I am not that good, Tanya. Your mother was on the verge of a breakthrough already. Rhonda knew the why and how she got to be the way she was. I just asked her and it spilled out. I would postulate no one has asked her before."

Rhonda looked deeply into her daughter. "Tanya, the question is are you OK with me here. I know what a bitch I have been all your life. I can't expect you to forgive all of that. I will try to make it up to you if you allow me."

Tanya was shedding tears but did not feel them. "I knew that you were damaged inside, Mommy. I'm not the one who has to forgive you. You must forgive yourself. Then you can help others understand the pain you feel and work through their own." Tanya knelt down and added to the hugging. That made her mother feel better. Ophelia and Donna took their leave. They were going out to meet more of Ophelia's friends.

Tanya was concerned that her mother would resent her and Hollie for what had happened that evening. Hollie and she were having a quiet chat while Tanya made a simple meal. Soup, salad, and a sandwich.

"What do you do, Hollie?" Rhonda asked.

"I sell real estate. It pays well. The properties I specialize in are expensive so the commissions are also high. Tanya is trying it out. We set up our own agency and are still building a reputation. But business is picking up."

"Are there any reasonably priced homes to be had in the city?" Rhonda wanted to move out of the town she lived in. Her reputation was very bad.

"I guess that depends on what you consider reasonable, Mrs. Wilson." Hollie was always careful with clients and their money.

"I have some money put away but it can't possibly be enough for the prices I read about in this city. I would have to find a fairy godmother and that's not likely." Rhonda had hoped her girl could help her but would not ask it of her. She would find a place somewhere else and visit Tanya. A bowl of soup was placed in front of the two. Rhonda jumped up to help. She carried a plate filled with sandwich quarters cut in triangles, and Tanya brought her soup and a bowl of salad. She went back and grabbed the dressing. Her mother and lover were both impressed at the speed and quality.

Rhonda told her daughter. "Tany, this is so nice but you shouldn't have troubled for me. We could have ordered pizza or something."

Hollie was rolling the nickname around in her head. "Tany? That is a good name for you. Thanks loads for dinner! Are you trying to fatten me up, babe?"

"I couldn't fatten you up with all the exercise you do, Hollie. It is simple food and easy to make. Is it OK, Mom?"

"You made all of this just now? I can tell everything is fresh, and it's so tasty! I'm very impressed, my girl. Thank you." This was the first time Tanya had ever seen her mother eat without saying grace.

"What were you two discussing, if I may ask?"

Hollie answered. "We were discussing home prices in the city."

"Mom, are you thinking of moving here? I'm sure Hollie must have told you this is not a cheap place to live."

"We talked for a while but never discussed money. I want to leave that small town. I would like to be near my baby and her girlfriend. I know it is a dream but I haven't had time to think anything out." Rhonda was tired and yawned. "Oh, I am sorry, girls. I've had an overly emotional day." Tanya got up to serve salad to every one. Eating stilled the conversation for a time. Tanya heard her computer ping, alerting her there was a new email. After they had finished eating, Tanya started to gather the dirty dishes. Hollie grabbed her around the waist.

"No. You made dinner - I clean up. You know the rules, Tany." Tanya looked at Hollie with lust in her eyes. Hollie glanced at Rhonda. She was bright red and looking at the living room. "Sorry, Rhonda. Sometimes I forget my manners." Tanya was released and slipped over to her mom.

"I guess it is a little to soon for you, Mom. I won't let it happen again."

"This is your home. You two you can do as you want. I would have the same reaction if one of you was a guy. I am not used to loving relationships. I never had one or even saw one as a child. That really perturbs your siblings. I'm always telling them to stop loving on their significant-other. I have a tremendous amount of atoning to do with both of them. I've been very hard on my grandkids too. Tanya looked at her email - it was good news! Jeffery Palmero wanted her to find his niece a place in the city.

"Hollie, Mr. Palmero wants me to find a place for his niece. She will be going to university in the city. If you have some spare time at work, could you do a search for places 10 and under, please?"

"Sure thing, Tany. I'm sure they will want it on transit lines. Shouldn't be any problem. Did they give you an idea of location?"

"Nope. I'm supposed to call Miriam for details. It's her niece. I hope she's a little easier to deal with than she was the first time. I'm sending him an email saying it might take a few days because of Mom's visit." Tanya quickly typed the email and sent it. She noticed her mother was watching her intently. "Sorry, Mom. Just had to take care of that. I didn't want to lose a sale. I hear some people get upset easy."

"I understand. What does '10 and under' mean?"

Hollie sat down across from her and answered. "Rhonda, it means he doesn't want to spend over 10 million dollars. If they want to be near the university, that is easily doable."

"Lord! Ten million! Is that an average price around here?" Rhonda said in a shocked way.

"Downtown. That is on the low end for buying a condo or apartment. I've sold over a hundred-million-dollar properties quite often. Once you get out of that market, prices moderate some."

"I don't think I can live here. I don't have anywhere near that kind of money." Rhonda was shaking her head.

"Depends how close you want to be. North Shore has somewhat more reasonable prices and good mass transit." Tanya added.