Land of Nod - East of Eden

I know the children's clothing line Land of Nod but I never knew the Biblical land of Nod. East of Eden. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the East of Eden Gen 4:16. Back up a little though. Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the East of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Talk about high-tech security!

So the Tree of Life is in the center of Eden. Adam and his family now live in Nod and cannot access the tree of life, lest they eat of the tree again and live forever. They already know good and evil - can't trust Eve, sure can't trust that serpent either. 

Cain screws up and kills Abel. Dude, come on! Really? You know God can see ya! So he gets cursed to be a vagabond. He freaks out. It is one thing to be cursed, but then driven from Nod, to be exposed and risk getting killed? That's heavy. Here is the kicker though. He whines to God about his punishment. Seriously? Entitled fool! Anyway, he kills his brother, but whoever kills him will suffer vengeance seven times over. 😏. He even gets protection from God by getting a sign that warns people not to kill his murderous self. Whoa! Now I am really confused.
What a way to explain God's favor!