Bad moon rising

[1]

'Don't go around tonight

Well it's bound to take your life

There's a bad moon on the rise'

Your legs were killing you.

After hours of sitting in the back seat of the Land Cruiser, you were growing restless. And Nanook didn't really help when the dog draped his entire body over your lap, his weight making both of your legs go numb.

You could hear the sounds of your brothers and mom arguing over which radio station they should listen too for the rest of the drive. The occasional static from the radio making you roll your eyes.

Maybe your legs weren't the only thing tired from the long drive, maybe the voices of your family were starting to drive you crazy.

"Oh," your mom suddenly said, turning up the music that was currently on. "This one is from my generation." A smile inched its way on your face as you watched mom dance along to the music.

Both Sam and Micheal turned to face each other, a soft grin playing other lips as they listened to the ole timey song. "Keep going." They said together.

"Ok, ok, I get it." Mom said as she switched the channel. "My music isn't hip enough for you guys."

You leaned forward in your seat, hand resting on Nanooks fur to keep him still. "Hip?"

"Yeah, you know. Cool, fresh, narly." Your mom told you, bringing her hand up to do a surfers hand gesture.

You glanced over at Micheal, trying to see if he too was hearing what mom was describing. He just gave you a playful eye roll, and a shake of his head. Not wanting to tell mom that nobody actually used those words in real life.

"We're almost there." Your mom told you in a sing song manor.

Glancing past Micheal you saw a billboard, the words Welcome to Santa Carla read across the front, an image of the towns beach drawn on cartoonishly.

Sam let out a gag, his nose turnt up towards the window. "What's that smell?" He asked, quickly rolling up the glass to try and block the stench from entering the car.

Mom closed her eyes, taking a long sniff of the outside breeze. "That's the ocean air, baby"

"It smells like someone died."

You snorted at your youngest brothers comment, he wasn't totally wrong. The saltyness that suffocated the air around you was a bit much, but you'd grow used to it, you all will eventually.

"Look guys, I know the last year has been tough." Mom said, glancing back at the rear view mirror at both you and Micheal. "But I think your really gonna like it here."

You couldn't count on either hands on how many times your mother had said those exact words to you three. It always starts with the 'I know' and always ends in your really gonna like this place. But, if you were being a hundred percent honest you missed back home.

All of your friends and what's left of your now broken family is all back home in Phoenix. And you know that mom is doing all that she can to keep everything positive, but deep down you know that the divorce is hurting her just as badly as it is hurting you and your brothers.

As the car continued to drive down the road, you watched as the sign showed the back. It was packed with graffiti art and even a couple of stickers stuck to wood. But, what caught your attention most was the five letter word painted in black and red.

Murder capital of the world.