She was soft and cuddly while his mum was hard and sharp, a warm pillow versus a jagged rock. Plus she smelled nice; dark and fruity perfume over her vanilla scented skin. Most of the time, Wesley wished he could leave his shitty house and move in with Aunt Sally…except that Jason would be there too. He didn’t like Jason much. He always stank of beer and cigarettes, and insisted on kicking a ball around every time they visited. Once he’d even said The Fabled Four were for girls and queers, because of the outfits they wore. The Fabled Fags.“I…I tripped on the stairs,” he said. “Honestly, Aunt Sally, I did.”“Love your mum?”He hesitated. “Yes.”“Good boy.”He gave her another hug, this time around the neck so he could smell her hair. Sally rubbed his back before easing him away.“Go on. Go and play.”Aware that his performance had reached its conclusion, Wesley plodded across the living room, swaying his arms. At the foot of the stairs, he peeked in on his mum in the kitchen.She’d lit another cigarette and stood by the steaming kettle, gazing out of the window.Why can’t you be more like Aunt Sally?Wesley knew he’d absorbed some of his mother’s spite; the jealously that came with having little in a world where everyone seemed to get everything.
