"But it was Rico's show, and he was its dark star."

Cookie in Peter Bacho’s “Rico” is an interesting character, if only because he’s a reputedly desirable man named “Cookie.” Really? Come on. If I’m being honest, my curiosity lies primarily at how his parents justified the name “Cookie,” and if it was a nickname, how did it actually stick? However, speculation on that wouldn’t make for a very thorough blog post, so maybe it’s more important to look at what he contributed to the story.

I think it’s important to look at how Rico felt about other ethnicities to understand how Cookie may have affected his life. The reader learns pretty early on where certain races stand with Rico (as implied by Buddy). He definitely looks up to the black members of his community. Buddy says that Rico loved the “sweating black angels” (19) playing in the band at the community dances. The narrator makes this seem like a view held by many Filipinos, “Filipinos always hired black bands […] the horns made it raw and powerful, something white bands could never do” (19) and whether or not that is true, we can safely assume that Rico would agree.

Not as much praise is given to the white girls present in the story. While Rico specifically flirts/sleeps with them in the story, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of respect evident. They are considered “easier to impress” (18) and noted as sometimes “trying to pass for something else” (19) when they danced. Girls in general aren’t seen as much more than a conquest to Rico, as we can see when he talks about Vietnamese girls later in the story (24).

It took me a little bit to understand who/what “the bloods” were (first seen on page 18, third paragraph), and while it’s somewhat ambiguous throughout the first couple of pages, I think Rico spells it out later. This same moment helps expand on how Rico feels about white girls when he says, “Devil bitches, but I love ‘em. Most bloods don’t mess with ‘em now, ‘ceptin Sammy Davis.” (23) Assuming this is a reference to Sammy Davis Jr. and his white wife May Britt, we can probably infer that “bloods” are a name for black people in the story. (Interesting fact: interracial marriage in the U.S. was finally ruled unconstitutional in 1967, the same year Buddy is looking back to)

All of this in mind, it’s easier to begin seeing how Cookie influenced Rico. Cookie was a black man had long been embracing his promiscuous lifestyle, “He didn’t care whether the girls were black, white, yellow, whatever – a fact attested to by his multicolored progeny” (25) and was always on the run due to the fact. He was eventually drafted into the Vietnam War where he died. The fact that he was black is important – one of the reasons Rico feels like the Marines are his only option is because he isn’t black “Got no school. Got no job. Ain’t colored, so I ain’t got no black power let-your-hair-grow-out-don’t-conk-it shit. […] What we got?’ Rico asked angrily, referring to Filipinos in general and himself in particular.” (23) Unhappy with his own situation, it’s as if Rico is following in Cookie’s footsteps – having encounters with as many girls as possible, leaving Seattle behind and eventually going to Vietnam. I think part of Buddy’s hesitation can be understood through the comparison between the two. He must, in some way, feel like he’s been through this before. Losing a friend is never easy, but THAT’S THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES – okay I’m done with this blog post, I can’t talk about Cookie that seriously.