Page 113 of Pride High 3: Yellow

“Yeah,” Diego replied.

“Do you love him?” She searched for the answer in his eyes, Diego willing to let her stare, in case she could find it for him. “Because I do,” she continued at last. “More than my husband. More than myself. I only want the best for him.”

He crossed his arms and braced himself for the inevitable. She would explain, in the nicest terms possible, why he wasn’t good for Ricky.

“I’d like to think that you want the best for him too.”

“Absolutely,” he said.

“Then help me.” Mrs. Nishikawa placed a hand on his forearm. “Please. I know you both feel like you’re invincible, but you’re not.”

“I realize that,” Diego replied. “I figured it out when my dad died.” Which had been like seeing God himself bleed out on the ground with a bullet in his head. Maybe that’s when he had stopped believing, because before then, his dad had seemed unstoppable. Like the king of the world.

“Oh!” Mrs. Nishikawa replied, her sympathetic expression reminding him way too much of her son. “I’m so sorry! I’m sure you can imagine then, how upsetting it was to nearly lose Ricky. Since that horrible day, I’ve felt like I can’t keep him safe. I keep trying, but it’s like he always slips through my grasp. So I’m asking you to think of his best interests. And I meanreallythink. Whenever you’re with him and about to do something, ask yourself if it’s good for him. The answer might be boring. You might have to walk away from a party where there is drinking or need to drive slower, but I want you to do that for him. He loves you, Diego. And if you want to prove that you love him back, please do everything you can to keep him safe.”

It wasn’t the lecture he’d been expecting. He glanced over his shoulder when he heard the sliding glass door open behind him. Ricky came out wearing a concerned expression. He walked to Diego’s side and took his hand.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Diego replied.

Ricky eyed his mom warily before turning to him again. “Come inside. I want to show you what I got.”

“Okay.”

He started to follow Ricky inside the house, not intending to respond to Mrs. Nishikawa, because he sure as hell didn’t answer to her or anyone else. Although the emotion behind her words resonated with him, so he paused in the doorway, letting Ricky go on ahead of him, before he turned around.

Mrs. Nishikawa’s forehead was crinkled with worry, but when she looked up, there was hope in her eyes.

“I’ll protect him,” Diego told her. “No matter what.”

— — —

Omar hammered the buttons of a Super Nintendo controller, slashing his enemies down. Ricky had received the new Zelda game,A Link to the Past, as a gift, and so far it was freaking epic! The birthday boy himself sat down next him to watch the screen.

Omar paused the game. “It’s your big day,” he said, trying to hand over the controller. “You should play.”

“That’s okay,” Ricky said. “I’m going to start again using a different save slot. I don’t want to miss any of the story. But it looks fun so far!”

“Yeah, watch this.” Omar unpaused the game and began attacking an innocent chicken until a whole flock of them swarmed the screen to tear him apart.

“That’s awesome!” Ricky said as they both laughed.

“And deadly. Too bad Anthony went home. This is animal rights activism taken to a whole new level.” He glanced around and noticed that they were alone. “Wait, am I the last one here?”

“Yup,” Ricky confirmed.

“Oh.” Omar had intentionally stayed late. Silvia had told him to stop by the record store if the party ended early enough. He would’ve been able to make it if he’d left with Anthony and Cameron. Except he hadn’t wanted to.

Ricky must have wished for psychic powers when blowing out his candles, because he commented on the very subject. “I’m surprised you aren’t out with your girlfriend.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t out with your boyfriend,” he retorted.

“I didn’t want to push my luck,” Ricky explained. “My mom seemed to warm up to him again the longer he was here. I didn’t want her to spend the rest of the night wondering if I was getting high or whatever.”

“Smooth move,” Omar said in approval.

“So you don’t have any plans with Silvia?”