New Kid in Town

Sasha felt his eyes glaze over as he stared blindly at the TV. It was his third day here at the Staal house and he was bored out of his mind, the town not having anything except the Wal-Mart and Applebee's and another strip mall. It was a far cry form his house in Alexandria and DC, the whole area seemingly nothing but farms and subdivisions.

He came to attention when he saw an ad for the Myrtle Beach Board of Tourism, the ad showing images of the beach and boardwalk and girls in bikinis. Sasha sat upright in his chair and went right to his laptop as he waited for it to load, typing in the website for the Myrtle Beach Board of Tourism. He saw that many of the hotels still had vacancies and the deals were good, looking around before booking a room at a Holiday Inn right on the beach. I need a change of scenery and we definitely don't have beaches like this in Russia, he chuckled to himself.

Sasha decided to buy supplies at the Wal-Mart and grabbed his keys as he headed out the door, no longer feeling bored like before. He paused momentarily when a basketball came bounding across the driveway followed by a little boy in denim shorts and a Spongebob t-shirt, the boy grabbing the ball and heading back towards the house. The boy paused and looked at him curiously, the ball tucked under his arm. "Are you new here, sir?", he asked, speaking with a heavy Texas accent.

"Da, I am new here. I am staying here until I can find my own place, but I am leaving for Myrtle Beach soon", he replied.

"Where are you from, you don't sound American", asked the boy.

"Tyler, don't bother the man", said a female voice with a thick Texas accent like the boy.

"Sorry, Jessie", he muttered.

A young woman in denim shorts and a Jason Aldean tour t-shirt tied in a knot above her stomach came over from the house next door as Sasha discreetly checked her out. She was tall and slim with long tanned legs and her dark brown hair in loose waves around her shoulders underneath a blue Texas Rangers hat, the shirt revealing her flat tanned belly with a belly button ring. "Howdy, did you just move in? I'm Jessamyn Carroll and this my brother Tyler", she said, extending her hand.

"Zdravaste, Miss Carroll. I am Alexander Semin", he replied.

"Oh, are you Russian? Reckon we've never met any Russian folks before, but our neighbors are Canadian", said Jessamyn.

"Da, I am Russian, from Krasnoyarsk in Siberia", he replied, biting back a chuckle at the astonished looks on their faces.

"Wow, that's far", said Tyler in awe.

"Da, ya paneymat. It was an honor to meet you, Tyler and Miss Carroll", he said graciously as he took the keys from his pocket and clicked the button.

And I hope I can see her again when I return from Myrtle Beach, looks like Carolina just got more interesting, he mused with a chuckle.

He was about to exit the driveway when his phone rang, frowning when he saw the unfamiliar number. "Hey Sasha, this is Jared, Eric's brother. I'm on my way to the house", said the voice on the other end.

"Da, you are Jared Staal? I was on my way to Wal-Mart", he replied.

"Cool, I'm just a few minutes away", said Jared before hanging up.

Barely two minutes later, a black Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with various country music decals on the bumper parked on the side of the driveway. Jared turned off the engine and got out of the driver's side, waving at him. He was clearly a Staal with his height and muscular build, his red hair slightly long and his green eyes smiling. "Hey Sasha, we can fit more stuff in my truck", he said cheerfully.

"Da, that sound like a good idea", he agreed. Sasha locked the doors of the Mercedes and joined Jared in his truck, frowning when he saw the radio tuned to a local country station.

"You like country, that's all the stations got down here. There is one station that has rap and another that has pop music, lucky I'm a country boy", Jared laughed.

"Uh, nyet. I am not a country fan, I like Russian music", replied Sasha.

"You mean techno and stuff, it's not bad I'm just a country boy from Thunder Bay. Eric's there with Tanya and the boys, Jordan's kind of moping around because his girlfriend dumped him after he got traded. Being on the Hurricanes isn't as cool as being on the Penguins", said Jared sarcastically.

"Da, that really sucks", said Sasha in disgust.

"I know, he ought to hook up with a nice Southern girl. Let me tell you Sasha, Southern girls are awesome. They're hot, sexy, and don't freak out if you drink beer and they love sports and country music. You single?", asked Jared.

"Da, I broke up with my girlfriend early this year. You have girlfriend?", asked Sasha.

"Nah, I'm single. Mom's been after me and Jordan to get married and give her more grandkids, she's already got Parker and Levi and Marc's wife is pregnant too, us Staals can't have girls", he joked.

"I only have one sister and my niece, Katarina. They come to visit once a year during winter break at school, they were here when we did the Winter Classic", replied Sasha.

"Awesome. Why are you going to Wal-Mart anyways?", asked Jared.

"I was very bored and saw an ad for the Myrtle Beach, I made reservations at Holiday Inn. It very boring here", he replied with a dry chuckle.

"Myrtle Beach is awesome, Sasha. You ought to check out the hotties there, lots of sexy country girls", said Jared with a smirk.

"Da, maybe I need that. But I have trouble understanding Southern accent", replied Sasha.

"You'll get used to it after a while, it's a sexy accent", said Jared.

An idea came to Sasha as Jared drove into the Wal-Mart parking lot. "Do you want to join me, I don't know anything in Myrtle Beach", he said.

"Sure, I was just planning on chilling out here. I got two weeks before I start training so we can have some fun. Trust me, you are going to like this", he laughed.

Jared found an empty space near the front of the store and Sasha grabbed a cart as they went towards the entrance. "Hi and welcome to Wal-Mart", said the elderly greeter.

"Dobry vycher, madame", said Sasha as the greeter did a double take.

"Sasha, you don't reply to the greeter. And I don't think she's ever been called madame before", said Jared.

"Da, I did not know that. And it is rude to ignore people", he replied.

"All the Wal-Marts have greeters, you don't talk to them. Anyways, follow me", said Jared.

Sasha grabbed the handle of the cart and followed Jared. "You need beach supplies, they're more expensive there", he said. Sasha watched as he placed two large beach towels with palm tree designs in the cart followed by an umbrella and red plastic cooler. A few aisles over, Jared placed various toiletries in the cart and headed to the CD section where he looked through the various country albums.

"I got an Ipod and the hookup, but I want something new", he explained.

Sasha looked through the various CD's, frowning when he couldn't find any techno or Russian music. "Jordan was driving me nuts with his music, he's a bit metalhead. I don't mind, but listening to Pantera everyday can drive you nuts. He's been on a real Pantera kick, he's been hanging out with Kris too much", said Jared with a shrug.

Sasha said nothing as he watched Jared select a few CD's and place them in the cart. "Believe me, if you want to fit in here in Carolina, you got to start liking country music. Pretty much everyone on the team likes country, even the European guys", he said, showing him the latest Jason Aldean CD.

"Okay, I try. But we don't have anything like country in Russia, I do like some Metallica if that helps", replied Sasha.

"Metallica's awesome, but Jordan is the real metalhead in the family. He's been hanging out with Geno and Kris a lot, those two are hardcore. Kris saw Pantera on the last tour before they broke up", he said.

"Pantera too loud, not my type music. Didn't one of the guys get shot by crazy guy?", he asked.

"Yeah, Dimebag got shot onstage in Ohio buy some crazy dude. The cop who shot the crazy bastard is a hero, he had a hostage and shit", said Jared, shaking his head.

Sasha frowned and steered the cart towards the towards the checkout lane, placing the items on the conveyor belt. "Oops, didn't mean to bum you out there, Sasha", said Jared.

"Da, that is okay. We got back to the house and I change the room, then we go to Myrtle Beach", he said as the cashier rung up their purchases.