Mrs. Borak

Mrs. Borak is Shlezi and Gerda's neighbor who remarks on various versions of stories about the family.

Mr. Everything Cheap

Mr. "Everything Cheap" is Shlezi and Gerda' s asthmatic neighbor who keeps an eye on their house. He corroborates one version of how Gerda's cat died, as well as information about Shlezi's collection of coins and stamps. Mr. Everything Cheap" has Gerda and Shlezi over to play cards the night Rutchen tries to burn her father's wrapped stacks of coins.

Gerda

Gerda is Shlezi's wife and Rutchen's mother. She is very thin, and her neck is in a plaster cast. Some of the neighbors swear that Shlezi hurt her in some way, either physically or emotionally, and that this is why she wears the cast. Gerda, who does not speak much, usually behaves very passively around Shlezi.

Gerda had a beloved cat named Pudding—an inheritance from...