“You’re going to stay with your grandparents for the summer.”
“In Seattle?” he said in disbelief. “I don’t want to!”
“That doesn’t matter,” Ami said. “We’re going to explain to the judge how you got off to a rough start here and fell in with the wrong crowd. We’re hoping that our solution will circumvent the need for them to come up with their own punishment for you.”
Ricky felt dizzy as he considered the implications. “Can’t you just ground me?”
“We’ve tried that,” Ami said with forced patience, “and it obviously wasn’t effective. Your father and I need to work. We can’t be here all day to make sure you don’t get into trouble. Only your grandparents have that luxury.”
“Have them come down here then!” Ricky said, leaping on the idea.
“You need some perspective,” Ken countered. “I know you don’t like the idea now, but a little distance will do you good. You’ll see.”
“Of course it’s possible that the judge won’t let you leave,” Ami said. “You might be in a detention center instead. That’s why it’s so important that the police find Diego.”
Ricky clenched his jaw shut and glared at them. He refused to say another word until they had both left his room. Once they had, he tried cussing, but it came out sounding sad and defeated instead of defiant.
“God damn it.”
Ricky sat on his bed, imagining what the night would bring, how Diego would wait for him in the cave while feeling abandoned. Or worse, he’d come looking for Ricky. If he showed up here, his parents would call the police. In a heartbeat. But only if he sat here all night feeling sorry for himself.
Ricky opened his bedroom door and listened. He could hear a one-sided conversation elsewhere in the house, like his mother was on the phone. His dad was probably somewhere near her. Ricky grabbed a pair of shoes but left them off so he could tiptoe down the hall to the bathroom. He turned on the shower, locked the bathroom door, and pulled it shut behind him on his way out. Then he crept down the stairs to the entryway, where his backpack still sat. He grabbed it and let himself out as silently as possible. With the promise of freedom propelling him, Ricky broke into a run.
— — —
“This is a bad idea,” Anthony said for the millionth time. Not that it seemed to get through to his passenger. He glanced over at Ricky, whose face looked just as troubled as when he’d shown up on Anthony’s doorstep, asking for a ride.
“I know,” Ricky said glumly. “But I have to see him. It’s the only way I can keep him safe.”
Anthony considered the dirt road, hemmed in on both sides by trees. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a secret,” Ricky said. “You won’t tell the cops where we are, will you?”
“Of course not.”
The right thing to do ceased to have meaning when it came to supporting a friend. That’s why he had agreed to drive out here, even though it would only make Ricky’s situation worse. Much like he’d kept his mouth shut after Omar had told him about the taped confession earlier in the week. That had been absolute torture, especially at home. His dad seemed so beaten down and defeated. Even worse was when his father would start ranting, venting his anger at everything and everyone. Except for his family. He never blamed Anthony. Love was a powerful thing. Dangerously so.
“I’m going to miss you,” Anthony said, glancing over at his passenger again. “I don’t want you to go to Seattle.”
“I hate the idea,” Ricky said, his voice warbling. “I haven’t lived here very long yet. What if you guys forget about me?”
“Fat chance,” Anthony said with a laugh. “And if by some miracle we do, you’ll barge back into our lives at the end of summer, just like you did last year. You’re kind of impossible to ignore.”
Ricky laughed. Then he became somber again, because the dirt road ahead of them ended in a clearing. A Trans Am was parked to one side.
Anthony pulled up next to it and looked around. “Is he camping out here or something?”
Ricky hesitated. “You promise not to tell?”
“On my little brother? Never. On my big brothers? Always.”
Ricky smiled. “There’s a cave not far away.”
“A cave?” Anthony repeated in disbelief.
“Yeah.”
“Wow. Does he wear nothing but furry underwear and drag a club around while staying there?”
Ricky laughed. “No, but that would be hot!”
“It really would,” Anthony admitted. “What do you want me to say when your parents call?”
“That you haven’t seen me.” Ricky grabbed his backpack off the floorboard. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.” He opened the passenger-side door before seeming to reconsider. “Actually, I know it’s a really big favor, but would you walk with me the rest of the way? The woods creep me out.”
“Says the guy who plans on sleeping in a cave tonight.” Anthony put the car in park and removed the key from the ignition. “I have to admit that I’m curious.”
Ricky led them to a small path that would have been easy to miss. He started acting odd, insisting that Anthony go first before changing his mind and wanting to be in front.
“Trees scare me,” Ricky said in apologetic tones.
“Then you might have xylophobia,” Anthony suggested.
“I do!” Ricky said, spinning around in excitement. “You’ve actually heard of it?”
Anthony nodded. “I did a report on phobias freshman year. Mostly so I could memorize all the funny terms and impress people. I knew it would pay off eventually.”
“I did the same thing once,” Ricky said, “except it was a paper on all the different terms for groups of animals. You know, like an army of ants or a litter of kittens?”
“How many can you name?” Anthony challenged.
“A team of horses, a murder of crows, a quiver of cobras—”
“Oh, that’s a good one! Like arrows.”
“Yeah! A troop of gorillas, a shadow of jaguars—”
“I like that!”
“A pride of lions,” Ricky continued.
“Hold up,” Anthony said. “Do they ever reuse these terms for more than one animal?”
Ricky thought about it before nodding. “Sometimes, yeah, usually when the word is more general, like a herd or a swarm.”
“Good, because a group of gay people should also be called a pride.”
“That’s perfect!” Ricky said. “Especially considering where we live.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t apply it to the whole town. It’s just for people like us. We’re in the same pride.”
Ricky did a happy little skip. “I love it! From now on, if anyone thinks it’s weird that I call you my big brother, I’ll tell them we’re in the same pride.”
Their levity fell away when the woods ended just before a craggy cliffside. A small stream burbled to their left. There didn’t seem to be anywhere else to go without forcing their way through the underbrush to the right.
“Diego?” Ricky called out. “It’s me!”