robbing the cradle

CHAPTER ONE, I.

TWO YEARS AGO.

Today was one of those unanticipated days that my uncle managed to always piss me off with. Another moving day. Great. Just fucking great. This is the fourth time we've moved in the past three years. If only my uncle could choose one place and be completely content with it. But no, no -- being completely satisfied with something wasn't molded into that man's character. Which sucked ass.

A frustrated sigh escaped my lips as I roughly ran my hands over my face, sitting on the asphalt porch of our soon-to-be old house, July's sun ruthlessly beaming its rays upon me and anyone who dared to step outside. I watched as the sweaty, grimy-looking moving men placed the last of my family's belongings in the huge U-Haul truck that my uncle rented. Attached to the truck were two cars; my uncle's and my brother's. "That it?" Uncle Cassidy's raspy voice inquired whilst retrieving his wallet to pay all four of the movers. They uttered their 'thank you's' and 'pleasure doing business with you's' before trotting toward the vehicle that they traveled in.

"All right. Have a nice day fellas." My uncle waved at them as they drove off in their company truck and turned toward me, "You ready to go?" I nodded my head and stood up, not hesitating to stretch my limbs. "Wait a minute," He uttered more to himself than me, his hazel eyes piercing into mine as he gritted his teeth in sudden realization. "Where the hell is Michael?" I quickly placed both arms at my sides. Goosebumps appeared on my skin in response to his sudden change in tone as my mind drifted to Michael, my brother. That was a title that I was reluctant to inform anyone of. Shit, I was still having a hard time accepting it for myself. Eighteen years old and dude was the biggest, laziest douche I've ever encountered in all fifteen years of my life. Some brother he was. "Uh, I think he's still upstairs." With that said, Cass charged into the house, walking past me and toward the stair case.

"Michael Nguyen Stevenson, if you don't get your scrawny ass down here right now --," Before unc could finish one of his many idle threats, Michael was slowly but surely making his way down the steps. "Yeah, yeah -- you'd beat my ass then leave me here. I think we've been through this before," Mike uttered matter-of-factly before brushing past our uncle and bumping me on his way to the truck. The familiar stench of marijuana lingered in my nostrils after he did so. Yeah, he'd definitely been smoking.

"Let's get this shit over with." I heard him mumble as I trailed behind him and toward the moving truck. Though it seated three people, the space in the cab was cramped as we all settled into it. Cassidy was in the driver's seat, I was in the middle, and on the other side of me was Mike. I sighed as he rudely nudged me with his knee as if to tell me to 'move'. Shaking my head and moving my leg as far away from him as possible, I retrieved my iPod Touch from the pocket of my Supreme khakis and placed my Skullcandy earphones in each ear. If I was going to stay sane on this trip, I'd need some music to help me do so. "Let's get a move on." Unc uttered whilst starting the engine and pulling out of the driveway.

So long Atlanta.

Next stop, Los Angeles.