Smoke Rings in the Dark

"Aye, who is your young man?", asked Mary Flyn as her granddaughter blushed.

"His name is Sergio Aguero, I met him when he passed a note to my table. He is from Argentina", said Cassandra.

"How lovely, he sounds like a good Spanish Catholic boy. The name is a wee bit familiar", said Mary, setting down the tea kettle on the stove.

"He plays for Manchester City, Maggie told me. I don't watch soccer", she said.

"Be careful, those blokes have a reputation and your da wouldn't like that", chided Mary.

"Daddy is weird like that, he never got over Mom taking up with her Mexican boyfriend. And he thinks Latin Americans are taking over the US, he watches too much Fox News", she said dismissively.

"Me Da felt the same way about me marrying your Grandda, an Irish bloke from Cork. Toby and I were happy", said Mary, a catch in her voice as Cassandra gave her a hug.

"Thank you, luv. If you are happy with this Sergio bloke and he treats you right, I want you to be happy with him. You are not a child", said Mary as the tea kettle whistled.

Cassandra felt her phone vibrate and saw the text from Sergio as she answered back. Mary smiled knowingly and poured their tea, bringing the cups over to the table. "Hola Cassie, what are you doing?", he asked.

"My gran just made tea, it rains a lot here in Manchester", she chuckled.

"Verdad, que es muy Ingles. Can I speak to your abuela, por favor?", he asked.

Cassandra handed Mary the phone. "Hola, senora. Your nieta Cassandra son muy bonita y muy intelligente", he said.

"I agree, Senor Aguero. You may work that Spanish charm on my granddadughter, but it doesn't work on an old layd like myself", she chided.

"Verdad, senora. May I talk to Cassie, por favor?", he asked.

Mary handed Cassandra the phone and went back to her tea. "Me gusta tu abuela, Cassie. Do you want to go out later, I have to be at practice noon manana", said Sergio.

"All right, Sergio. I had no plans, I was going to practice my guitar", she replied.

"Tocas guitarra? Bueno, bring your guitar?", he said.

"But it's going to be hard to bring if we go out", she protested.

"No problema, Cassie. I will pick you up at six thirty, son bueno? Hasta luego", he said.

"All right, see you later, Sergio", she said, hitting End.

Mary grinned broadly at her granddaughter as she set the cup down on the saucer. "I hope to meet your young man soon, I have to see if his charm is too much", said Mary.

"Is it all right to say that I am looking forwad to seeing him, I feel like a high school kid", said Cassandra.

"You have been so busy with school and you never had time for the lads, now that a handsome Argentine shows you a wee bit of affection you are all a twitter", said Mary with a laugh.

Cassandra blushed and finished her tea, rinsing off the cup in the sink and heading off to her room. She took the black Taylor acoustic from its case and checked the tunings before strumming a few chords, satisfied at the sounds. That's one good thing about having a country singer as your dad, she thought wryly.

Cassandra finished putting on her makeup and was brushing her hair when her phone vibrated, seeing the text from Sergio. She replied back and grabbed the Taylor's case and left the room as there was a knock on the door. Sergio was on the other side as he handed her a bouquet of dark red roses and one of pink roses to Mary. "Hola, esos son para ustedes. I asked mi hermana what sort I should get", he said.

"These are lovely, Mr. Aguero. I am Mary Flynn, Cassandra's gran", she said.

Sergio flashed the older woman his most charming smile and raised her hand to his lips. "Hola, Senora Flynn. I will bring your granddaughter back later", he said.

"Have a good time and thank you for the roses", said Mary.

Sergio nodded and took her hand, leading her outside to a gleaming silver Aston Martin as he opened the passenger's side door. "This is my baby", he said proudly as he got in the driver's seat.

Sergio put on his seat belt and turned on the radio as Cumbia music came over the speakers. "This reminds me of home, it is popular in Argentina", he said.

"All right, what is it?", she asked.

"That is Cumbia music, I grew up listening to it. I sang a Cumbia song my friend in a band wrote, it on Youtube", he said proudly.

"And you're a musician as well, senor Aguero", she said proudly.

"Verdad, it was fun. You play guitar, Cassie?", he asked.

"Yeah, my dad is a country singer and so is my brother", she replied.

"American country music, verdad? Last year, some of us went to see Luke Bryan at MEN Centre, el tiene muchos cansions de borachos, I liked it", he laughed.

"He's all right, but I prefer my family's songs. I play guitar but don't write songs", she said.

"Bueno, pienso que yo puedo a cantar", he laughed.

"You keep forgetting I don't speak Spanish, Sergio", she teased.

"Perdon, Cassie. Then I will try to speak English better, maybe I will start sounding American", he joked.

"Or perhaps Mancunian", she quipped.

"Verdad, I will start talking like un Ingles", he chuckled.

Sergio parked in a space at his condo building, hurriedly getting out to help her open the door. "Thank you, but I'm fine", she said.

"Mi mami said to always open the door for ladies", he said, slinging the guitar case over his shoulder and taking her hand. Sergio waved to the security guard and pressed a button to the elevator. "Some of my teammates live here tambien, they helped me find my flat", he said as they got in the elevator.

Sergio let them off at the fifth floor and led her towards his flat, reaching for the keys and opening the doors. "Bienvenidos a mi casa de Manchester, I will start getting dinner ready", he said, going to the kitchens.

Cassandra set down the guitar and followed him to the kitchen. Sergio was preparing baked potatoes and heating up the oven, humming a tune under his breath. "I am making baked potatoes and the steaks are in the refridgerator, I will grill them later. This is my usual dinner", he explained.

Sergio placed the potatoes in the oven and took out a bottle of Malbec, finding a corkscrew and opening the bottle before them each a glass. "Salud!", he toasted as they clinked glasses and drank.

Cassandra took a sip of wine and nodded in approval. "I want to hear you play guitar, Cassie", he said.

She set down her wine and took out the Taylor from its case, checking the tunings and strumming a few chords. "This is one of my dad's big hits, he wrote it after he started getting old", she chuckled as she played All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down:

All my rowdy friends have settled down
And they seem to be more into laid back songs
And nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
Everybody just wants to go back home
I myself have seen my wilder days
And I have seen my name at the top of the page
But I need to find me a friend just to run around
But nobody wants to get high on the town
And all my rowdy friends have settled down...

And I think I know what my father meant
When he sang about a lost highway
And ole' George Jones I'm glad to see is finally getting straight
And Waylon's staying at home and loving Jesse more these days
And nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
And all my rowdy friends have settled down

And the hangovers hurt more than they used to
And corn bread and iced tea took the place of pills and 90-proof
And it seems like none of us do things quite like we used to do
And nobody wants to get high on the town
And all my rowdy friends have settled down
And I think I know what my father meant
When he sang about a lost highway
And Johnny Cash don't act like he did back in '68
And Kris he is a movie star and he moved out to L.A
And nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
And all my rowdy friends have settled down
Yea me and my rowdy friends done rowded on down

Sergio drank his wine as he watched her play, smiling at the humorous lyrics. "Es verdad, when you get older no quiero hacer boracho. Your father must have been loco", he said.

"Yeah, he was a wild man back in the day but he's sober and found Jesus now. And this is a famous old country song", she said, playing Jambalaya by Hank Williams:

Goodbye Joe me gotta go me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne the sweetest one me oh my oh
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and file gumbo
Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou

Thibodaux Fontaineaux the place is buzzin'
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style and go hog wild me oh my oh
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou

Settle down far from town get me a pirogue
And I'll catch all the fish in the bayou
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie
Later on, swap my mon, get me a pirogue and
I'll catch all the fish on the bayou
Swap my mon, to buy Yvonne what she need-oh
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie...

"Me gusta, that sounds like my family back in Argentina", he said.

"He was staying with Cajun friends in Louisiana and he got the idea for that song. Here's another one of his", she said, playing I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry:

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
And I'm so lonesome I could cry

I've never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind the clouds
To hide its face and cry
Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die?
Like me he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry

"Es una cancio muy triste", he said.

"He wrote it for his first wife when they were getting divorced, he wrote his best songs towards the end. He drank too much and died in the backseat of his Cadillac on his way to a gig, craziness seems to run in the family", she said dryly.

Sergio made a mental note to look this up as he went to put the steaks on the grill. "And what about your brother, what does he do?", he asked.

"He's carrying on the family tradition, doing country music. Sheldon also has a heavy metal band called Death Throne and he's friends with a lot of metal people too, he's got the crazy gene", she said with a laugh.

"Verdad, he does both?", he asked.

"Yep, in concert too. He'll do the country set and then the metal set, half the crowd runs out the door then. Sheldon is the sort of guy who doesn't care what people think of him, he got in trouble with his old label because his album had curse words', said Cassandra.

"Play one of his songs, Cassie", he said.

"All right, but it is kind of rude", she said as she played Crazed Country Rebel:

Well, I was rollin' by myself, went down to Memphis, Tennessee
And I was looking for a guy, had a mullet but no teeth
And I was trippin' on some acid a latino gave to me
Yeah, I was smoking morphine til it knocked me off my feet
Then I scored some "H" from my old Uncle Petenow I'm startin' to feel like I might've ODed
On an overdose of drugs, overdose of sin
I'm gonna live it to the fullest like I'm on ten
And I love gettin' high - hate bein' low
And I like to drive my truck down a muddy dirt road and
I'm workin' real hard, tryin' to get paid'cause
I'm a crazed country rebel and I'm driftin' state to state

Somehow I made it up to Texas with a carload full of grass
And I'm seeing all these pigs who wanna bust my ass
And I'm always livin' hard - always smokin' weed
Now I'm hangin' out in Texas drinkin' mushroom tea
And I'm fucked up on the floor - and I think I know why,
Must've been some of that Boone county moonshine
And an overdose of drugs, overdose of sin
I'm gonna live it to the fullest like I'm on ten
And I love gettin' high - I hate bein' lowand
I like to drive my truck down a muddy dirt road
And I'm workin' real hard, tryin' to get paid
Cause I'm a crazed country rebel and I'm driftin' state to state

I had to get up off the floor, tried to get myself in line
'Cause the ceiling's talkin' to me, and the pisser's flushin' fire
That's why they call me 'full throttle' -
I like a good timeit all started at a bar with a friend of mine
Well she had to hook me up - she said she'd blow my mind
I've been up for four days so cut me out another line

Of an overdose of drugs, overdose of sin
I'm gonna live it to the fullest like I'm on ten
I love bein' high - hate bein' lowand
I like to drive my truck down a muddy dirt road
And I'm workin' real hard, tryin to get paid'
Cause I'm a crazed country rebel and I'm driftin state to state

"Su hermano son loco. Did he really do that?", he asked.

"Yeah, Shelton used to drink a lot and smoke a lot but he cut back, his wife doesn't like it now that they got kids", she said, showing him pictures from her phone. A tall thin man in his thirties with a long brown ponytail had his arm around a tiny brunette woman as he posed with a two teenage girls and a young boy. "That's him and his wife Becky and my nieces Jenny and Tammy and nephew Randall, he was named after Daddy", she explained.

Sergio nodded in understanding as he went to check on the food and make salad. "Do you need help?", she asked.

"No, I'm fine. You are my guest", he chided.

Sergio whistled as he made a salad and set the table, taking the potatoes from the oven and getting two plates out from the cupboard. Cassandra sat at the table and watched as he poured them each another glass of wine and served their food, seeing him bow his head and say Grace in Spanish as she waited respectfully. Throughout the meal, Sergio and Cassandra continued to talk while he poured their wine as they felt very comfortable around each other. He was glad she had a good appetite and was in a cheerful mood, unlike the English girls he had dated since his divorce.

"I'll do the dishes", she said as they finished.

"I will help", he replied. Sergio rinsed off the plates and handed them to her as she placed them in the dishwasher, adding the little packet of soap before turning on the machine.

"Do you have practice tomorrow?", she asked.

"Si, we have a game against Everton Sunday at Etihad. We have big game next week against United, the derby. It will be at Old Traffod, very big game", he said excitedly.

"Maggie talks about that a lot, her family are City fans. Does anyone like United?", she asked as Sergi burst into laughter.

"Si, but a lot of people hate United. They win all the time and have a lot of money, we are the underdogs", he said proudly.

"But you guys won the championship last year", she exclaimed.

"Verdad, but for many years the team was mierda, United was bueno. Now we are good and United are mierda", he joked.

Cassandra laughed at his boast. Sergio watched as the freckles danced on her nose and her green eyes shone with laughter, her full pink lips turned up at the corners. He tilted her chin upwards and gave her a kiss, gradually applying pressure as her lips parted under his. Cassandra moaned softly as his tonuge darted into her mouth and briefly touched hers, his hands on her waist and her fingers tangled in his hair. The kiss deepened until he broke the kiss, a smile on his face when he sa the dazed look in her green eyes as she ran her tongue over her lower lip. "No puede hacer mas, Cassie", he whispered.

"Are you all right, Sergio?", she asked.

"Si, it is too early for that. Let me take you home", he said.

Sergio grabbed the keys and took her hand, leading her downstairs to his car as he opened the door. "You have any plans Saturday, I want you y tu abuela at the game", he said.

"No, that is very nice of you, Sergio", she replied.

Sergio grinned at her. "Bueno, then I will leave tickets for you. I want to see my girl cheer us on", he said.

"I am your girl?", she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Si, quiere hacer mi chica? Do you want to be my girl?", he translated.

"You are such a charmer, senor Gutierrez. I will be your girl", she replied.

Sergio grinned as though he had won the lottery. "Es muy bueno, Cassie. I will leave tickets para ustedes", he said.

Sergio couldn't wipe the smile off his face when she agreed as he drove back to her house. He parked the car outside and went around to open the door, taking her hand and leading her towards the entrance. "No puedo espero para el juego Sabado, I want to see you in my shirt. Buenas noches y dulces suenos", he said, leaning over and kissing her lips.