The Produce Business

To say that my dad's mistress and my mom knew about each other would be an understatement.

That produce store in Matamoros that my mother owned in the indoor market was actually my father's idea; she had money put away, and that was used for start up. Dad just set her up and made deals with suppliers. I really don't think dad was a big advocate of women in the workforce, but he was a practical man, and he had two families to feed.

I have to assume that he was having some financial issues, even with the dollars he was making across the border. He would go to mom's store and pick up some staples: rice, beans, tomato, onion, an estropajo on occasion; mom knew where that stuff was going, but she just looked the other way. Well, there came the time when dad started looking further and further away for work, and he wasn't around much; so, what he does is tell my mom that Miss Tress would be coming by the store and mom would have to give her the items he had listed for her, free of charge. Of course, she didn't like giving that woman anything but dirty looks, but she did as dad asked.

It was about that time that aunt Carmen showed up to help mom with the business; i asked her why mom did it but she didn't know. What aunt did tell me was that when she saw mom putting together the list for Miss Tress, she was appalled and yelled at mom: why are you giving her the good stuff? Mom said she didn't know, but from then on they put together that list with the stuff from the bottom of the barrel, the stuff that was a little crushed, or the not so fresh. So, this one time, dad shows up, aunt tells me, it turns out that Miss Tress was complaining about the freshness of the food! Well, the gall! if she doesn't like it, she can shop elsewhere. 

Dad had nine children altogether; he had three with his first wife, divorced, had three children with Miss Tress, married mom, had three children with her at the same time he's having children with her, and
after mom died he married Miss Tress. He was about 80 years old then.
Why did he married Miss Tress? i can only guess it was because they were both very religious.

I include my older sister as one of my father's kid's because he is the only father she has ever known. After she got married in her early 20's, she inadvertantly found out that dad was not her biological father; mom and dad had never told her.