Little Havana Nights

Here Come The Hunks

On the other side of Little Havana, were two fraternal twin brothers, Ariel and Gabriel Hernandez, who were also born in Cuba and came to Miami before they reached their teens. They, too, were successful models all over Europe and the Americas, in addition to being backup dancers for none other than the purple man himself, Prince (or 'The Artist Formerly Known As Prince' as he was known back then).

The brothers befriended a guitarist Marty Cintron, who was originally from the Bronx in New York, with a Puerto Rican background. He would often come to watch Ariel and Gabriel dance at Prince's Grand Slam club when he performed there. Marty also recognized the twins from several of Prince's music videos from that period too, so they were no more novices than Cassandra and Danielle when it came to modelling and TV appearances.

One evening, in the Summer of 1994, Emilio and Safira were hosting a Quinceañera at their Cuban restaurant.

During the Summer months, the singers would perform in the beautiful, colorfully lit outdoors dining area of the restaurant, while during the rest of the year, the singers would perform indoors.

Cassandra was on stage singing "La Reina Del Baile" (Spanish version of ABBA's Dancing Queen) with Danielle and Linda outdoors.

Afterwards, the girl celebrating her Quinceañera walked up to Cassandra and requested a romantic song to dance with her boyfriend to. Cassandra asked if she wanted any particular song, but the girl simply said, "I'll be happy with whatever you choose. You have a beautiful voice."

So Cassandra sang ABBA's Spanish version of "Andante Andante" while the young couple slow-danced with the other guests watching them.

Ariel was walking down Miami beach to watch the sunset, and now that it was dusk, he started heading back home when he heard Cassandra's beautiful voice as he passed the restaurant again. So beautiful was her voice that he just HAD to see what she looked like. So he walked passed the side of the restaurant where he had clear view of the dining area that was outdoors, and there he saw her. He was love struck by the beauty on the stage.

By this time, Ariel, along with his brother Gabriel and friend Marty, they formed their Latin trio "No Mercy". Pretty soon they started getting booked for gigs regularly at restaurants.

Ariel had the idea of booking a gig at Cubano Pasado, in hopes of meeting the girl he saw there the other night. Emilio and Safira were impressed by the brothers' background in working for Prince, as well as Marty's voice, and so they didn't hesitate to book them that very night! Cassandra and Danielle weren't singing that night, but they still decided to have a bite there anyway as they loved the chicken and rice Safira made.

No Mercy then went up on stage to commence their performance, and the girls weren't taken as much with Marty as they were with the twins.

"I like the 'cuter' one." Said Danielle, referring to Gabriel. "The other one, he's more 'hot'. That's your territory."

"Very true." Agreed Cassandra. Because Ariel and Gabriel were fraternal twins, people were usually able to tell them apart, including Cassandra and Danielle.

The guys then started singing a ballad version of the song "And I Love Her", similar to the version Julio Iglesias recorded for his Starry Night album in 1990. Ariel and Cassandra couldn't take their  eyes off of one another for the duration of the song. The girls then decided to get up and dance, and everyone else was dancing when they were singing some of their own material.

Afterwards, as the restaurant was preparing to close, Ariel stepped down from the stage to meet Cassandra.

"Soy Ariel." He said, shaking Cassandra's hand.

"Soy Cassandra." Said said, reciprocating with a beautiful smile. It was love at first site for these two Cuban starlets. The sexual tension was also obvious as their handshake lingered for a few seconds longer than normal.

Cassandra went home with butterflies in her stomach, and the next morning, while her parents were still sleeping, Cassandra woke to find her grandmother Barbara (who'd been living with her and her family since she was 12) making tostada.

Tostada was a traditional Cuban breakfast food of merely their version of buttered toast. It was Cassandra's favorite breakfast.

"So how did you go last night with Danielle?" Asked Barbara.

"I had a wonderful time." She replied.

"Were there any handsome guys that caught your eye?" She asked.

"Well... there was this one... I'm blushing aren't I?" Cassandra was slightly embarrassed.

"My angel, it's alright! You can talk to your abuela about anything!" Said Barbara.

"He was one of the singers at the restaurant." Said Cassandra. "Afterwards he introduced himself to me."

"How nice!" Said Barbara. "Where's he from?"

"I'm not sure, but he spoke Spanish so he must be one of us or from another part of the Americas." Said Cassandra.

"A Latin man!" Said Barbara. "Those are always the most gorgeous. You remind me of me when I was your age. We lived in a village where my sisters and I could see these miners working, shirtless under the hot sun! They were so fit. My mother told us to knock it off, but that was one of the few times I adamantly disobeyed her. And I'm glad that I did because that's how I met your abuelo."

"He was one of the miners?" Said Cassandra.

"Si, niña." Said Barbara. "Oh, he was a stud. And I wasn't a bad-looking young woman myself, so we couldn't wait to get married. He was so passionate in the bedroom, I still get hot flushes thinking about it, even though he's been gone almost 20 years."

"What are you telling my daughter?" Asked Benito when he and Soledad woke up and came downstairs for breakfast. "And why did your voice suddenly go quiet?"

"Because we're having a womanly conversation about certain things you wouldn't want to hear from your mother." Said Barbara.

It was a sunny day so Barbara and Cassandra decided to sit in the back garden where beautiful flowerbeds were bright and colorful.

"So tell me more, abuela." Said Cassandra, eager to hear more about her grandparents' romance.

"He was the Romeo to my Juliet." Said Barbara. "Every time he came home from work, what would start as a simple greeting often turned into fireworks. I say he was hungrier for me than actual food!"

Cassandra giggled at her grandmother's creative remark. And she was hopeful that No Mercy would return, and of course, they would, since Emilio and Safira were so impressed with them, and their music attracted more customers than ever! Most of the customers were young, teenage girls, but that was ok, because money was money, regardless of who it came from. In fact, once a month, Cubano Pasado had an all-you-can-eat buffet where customers had to pay to so much as get into the restaurant, and No Mercy would always be performing on buffet nights, which also increased the profit of the restaurant.