Rico is Ma’s son, Bob’s brother in law. When they came to live on El Rancho from Quito, Rico was a young professional man doing well in his career. He never expected that one day, just like Ma, he would wake up and see a pepper in the mirror! He took it really hard! He is always saying “Why, why, why me? What did I do to deserve this?” There is really no explanation why. He and Ma had no trauma to cast them to this next life. In time, the reality has sunk in and their previous life seems less appealing. They both have taken awhile getting used to it, but everyone on the ranch usually feels so blessed to be here. There is rarely time to reflect on life as it was before with all the antics going on.
Here on the ranch everyone is in harmony with Mother Earth and all it’s creatures. There is always much work to be done on the ranch and Rico makes sure it gets done, like I fine tuned machine. He is like the XO of this ship of fools and so his demeanor comes across that way. They are all his minions in his eyes. If he had to become a pepper they will abide by ‘him, just like ‘The Godfather!’
Rico is actually a pepper from Peru, the Rocoto pepper, which dates back to the pre-Incan times. He is hot and spicy! He has swagger too! He also wears a Fidora and is a gangster in his mind, even though nothing close to being Italian! He can still play a mean guitar being a heavy metal head when he was human. The only problem is that now he can only play the Ukulele for obvious reasons. He is always strumming on it during those wonderful nights gathered around the campfire. In these moments he does not miss his mortal life in the least!
Rico can be a bit competitive, especially with Happy, who is also a ladies man! They tend to compete and it can be somewhat embarrassing wat-ching them strut around competing for the role of “cock-of-the-block”. Think of Kurt Cobain and Al Pacino all-in-one! Bob has absolute trust and confidence in his brother-in-law, Rico, now a Pepper Person. Together, they keep the ranch in check!