Dark Moon Crossing by Sylvia Nobel

along
    the way, many of which appeared abandoned. There were piles of old cars,
    overflowing trash dumpsters, a mashed-in horse trailer, and the constant din of
    barking dogs standing stiff-legged in weed and junk-infested back yards.
    Grimly, I thought that this was certainly not the initial view of town the
    local chamber of commerce would have approved of.
    When
    the sign reading Arivaca Medical Clinic loomed before us, relief poured through
    me. Since we hadn’t seen a single person after leaving the main road, I
    allowed my tight shoulders to relax. As we passed the one-story brick
    structure, I turned to Lupe with a triumphant grin. “See?‌ Home free. Where
    there’s a will, there’s a way, my dad always says.”
    Instead
    of returning my smile, she stared straight ahead, eyes bulging with horror.
    Following her gaze, I thought my heart was going to vault out of my chest.
    Dead ahead of us, blocking our entrance to the main road was a bright red Dodge
    4x4 pickup with monster tires. Lounging alongside were two young guys dressed
    like cowboys, but the three other men sprawled lazily on the tailgate had their
    heads shaved smooth as cue balls. Muscle shirts emphasized the blood-red
    swastikas tattooed on their chests and arms. All had cigarettes and beers in
    hand. Uh-oh.
    I stood on the brake while my fevered brain sized up
    the scenario in nanoseconds. Five strapping young guys, three of them
    skinheads, and lots of empty bottles scattered on the ground. Add two women
    alone in a car, one of them Hispanic, and the situation looked pretty dicey. I
    swallowed hard, tasting the remains of the Grubstake Special in the back of my
    throat.
    The daring part of me wanted to climb from the car,
    confront them, and demand, ‘Okay, dudes, how about moving this puppy out of my
    way,’ but my uneasiness skyrocketed as they stared back at us, their
    expressions of good-humored camaraderie slowly turning to menace. When one of
    them reached behind and pulled a baseball bat from the truck bed, Lupe screeched,
“Kendall, let’s get out of here!”
    I hit the door lock, shoved the car into reverse, but
    almost jumped out of my skin when a figure loomed behind us in the rear-view
    mirror. I pulled my foot off the gas so fast, the car hopped like a rabbit and
    the engine died. Before I knew what was happening, the stranger began pounding
    the trunk of my car with his fists. “How many goddamn beaners have you got
    stuffed in here, huh?‌” he shouted, following his question with a string of
    racial slurs and expletives targeted at Hispanics.
    What should I do?‌ Just back over him?‌ My hesitation
    cost me. Before I could decide my next move, the others had surrounded the car
    like a pack of coyotes encircling their prey.

6

    “Do
    something!” Lupe screamed, clawing at my shoulder. “Get us out of here!”
    I wanted to, but surprise and fear held me immobile
    while two of the guys gleefully poured the remainder of their beers onto my
    windshield. With wicked smiles plastered on their youthful faces, they then
    proceeded to lick the foam off while the other four pounded on and rocked my
    car from side to side. One of the muscle-bound skinheads, with a wild and
    dangerous gleam in his eyes, brandished the bat at Lupe and shouted his
    intentions to slay all wetback invaders. As her terrified screams grew louder,
    in a strange sort of way I felt removed, like I was in a scene from a gang
    movie. Above the babble of voices I kept waiting for someone to call, ‘Cut!’
    Looking back, I can convince myself that their bluster was mostly for show and
    that they never intended any real harm other than to scare the crap out of us.
    But, at that moment, I was unsure.
    Somehow,
    I willed my inert limbs into action and rolled the window down a crack. “You
    morons better back off! I’m calling the sheriff right now!” With trembling
    hands, I fumbled in my purse for my cell phone and made certain the guy in the
    black