Page 126 of Pride High 2: Orange

“I like learning more about you.”

The same need rose up in Diego again. “Wanna see my dad?”

“Yeah!”

Ricky followed him to the desk, where a framed photo was facedown on one corner. Diego usually left it that way, since he felt too much when it caught him by surprise.

“Here,” he said, handing the photo to Ricky without looking. He had it memorized anyway. His mom and dad were standing side-by-side in front of the auto shop, Diego sandwiched between them while grinning, despite all the baby teeth he’d lost. He must have been six or seven. The photo felt like some kind of weird alternate reality. Or proof that the life he remembered had actually existed in some form. Maybe it wasn’t as safe and happy as it had seemed to him back then, but at one time, his mom had loved him and his dad was still around to make him feel safe.

“I thought he would be big like you,” Ricky said while staring at the photo in his hands.

“Nah,” Diego said. “I get that from my mom’s side of the family.” His dad was scrawny and kind of short but big in personality. That sounded dumb, but it was true. He’d had presence. Lorenzo could make a whole room laugh and was often the center of attention.

Sorrow began to creep around the edges of his barriers, so Diego snatched the photo away and set it facedown on the desk again. “I gotta get back to work.”

Ricky perked up. “I’ll help. I mean it,” he added after Diego scoffed.

“Have you ever done an oil change before?”

“No.”

“Do you know how to rotate tires?”

Ricky made a face. “Don’t they do that on their own?”

Diego shook his head. “You’ve got a lot to learn. And you’d get dirty.”

“Do you have a jumpsuit I can wear?”

“They’re called coveralls, and I doubt we have anything that would fit you. Actually, we bought Sharon a pair years ago. I don’t think she ever wore them. Let’s go see.”

They were light blue and dusty when he found them. Ricky put them on without complaint. Then they went to work. Which was fun, even though Ricky wasn’t much use. Not at first. But he really was willing to learn and seemed genuinely impressed with his sort of work. Enough that Diego started to feel proud before he clamped down on it, because he knew it wouldn’t last.

People always wanted him to change.Why don’t you talk more? Stop being so angry all the time. Can’t you be nicer to everyone?Which proved how fickle feelings and relationships were, because if someone really liked you—if love was real—then wouldn’t they want you to stay the same?

Diego watched Ricky struggle to carry a used tire away, teetering with the effort. He liked the kid. More than he should. Diego didn’t want him to change. Once the good times were over, they were gone. Forever. People should cling to the present and fight against the future. Assuming they liked where they were. Diego usually didn’t. Until recently.

“What’s wrong?” Ricky asked when walking back over to him.

“Huh?”

“You get this look on your face sometimes,” Ricky said. “Like you’ve just heard bad news.”

Diego shrugged. “You don’t need to carry the tires. You can roll them along the floor.”

“Is that what you do?”

“Not with these guns I don’t,” Diego said, flexing an arm so he could get the reaction he wanted.

Sure enough, Ricky blushed. “Then I’ll carry them too.”

He was kind of cute in his little light blue coveralls. Like a nerdy chick who was into cars. Kissing him hadn’t felt so different than kissing a girl either. Why had he never put out a classified for a female mechanic? That would give his mom a taste of her own medicine. Or he could hire Ricky instead. Which would be more work than it was worth but also more fun.

“Mr. Solomonov is here to pick up his Buick,” Sharon called from the edge of the garage, nearly making him jump.

As soon as he made eye contact with her, she retreated back to the safety of the front office.

“Do you want to pull his car around?” Diego asked.