Throwing Shade With Mama

[Heinrich Echelon]

One of the many reasons H loved his mother so much was because she’d let him do fun stuff. Like smoking. Henry had found his mother smoke in one of the verandahs and asked her to join and as long as he didn’t smoke too much then he was allowed to do so. It was better than nothing. And he and his mother could bitch about people too! From classmates, to servants, to their relatives. The latter was the most entertaining of them all.

“So Cousin Leisa,” Henry had taken to calling everyone “cousin” as he couldn’t be bothered to keep straight how he was related to everyone. There were a lot more important things to worry about than that. Like being rebellious and managing to sneak rum in his bedroom without getting caught by one of the valets. “She gave birth, I heard?”

It was the most interesting thing that had happened to the family in a while, even if babies were usually boring to talk about. Unless they were born with ten fingers on each hand or something.

  

[Jayashri Echelon]

It was not uncommon for the day to find Shri languidly stretched across a chaise lounge on the verandah, smoking hookah and watching as nature went by around her. She had always loved her grandfather's home and was pleased - she could remember - when after Priya's birth her dear husband had consented to claiming the manor that was rightfully hers. That was where she was, what she was doing, that day when her youngest son had come to see her as he often did. She was rather fond of Agni, perhaps more than her other children, and had no qualms with sharing the moment with him and allowing him to smoke alongside her. Today's flavor of shisha was a fruity blend, mainly guava, and when he spoke she gave a rich sort of chuckle and offered him the hose to take a hit.

"Yes, she did. I fear for her husband having to deal with not only her but also her offspring." She'd not been overly acquainted with Leisa but even so she did not have an overly high opinion of her. In fact, most of her husband's family were strange, pale-colored people who she wanted nothing more than to annoy out of pure spite. There were a few, of course, who were more bearable but by and large she found the lot of them to be ridiculous. "Then again perhaps he's a masochist. He did marry her, after all." It was perhaps cruel to say but she and Agni often spoke such of their extended family. Her youngest son simply understood her in that way - that was why he was her favorite.

  

[Heinrich Echelon]

H took a drag from the hookah as his mother spoke. He found Aunt Leisa to be hot but that was only as far as high as his opinion went for her. He didn’t like her, because his Mama didn't like her. Besides, she didn’t seem particularly pleasant. Like the majority of his relatives. Sometimes, H couldn’t even stand his siblings. Sometimes, he’d gladly swap Fritz and Klara for Tommy and Amos.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” H commented as he blew smoke in the air. “I don’t like his face. He looks like someone who would like weird things.”