Charlamagne (Charlie) Reese

Charlie is the narrative's protagonist. Jackie is her sister. Carla is her mother, and Scrappy is her father. Bertha is her aunt, and Gus is her uncle through his marriage to Bertha.

When the novel begins, Charlie is a selfish, frustrated child whose form of expression is fighting. She recognizes that she inherited her tendency to fight from her father. However, she does not realize how much she is like her mother in that she is self-centered. She also looks like her mother.

Charlie is arrogant. She thinks that she is better than the people in Colby. She also thinks that she is better than Howard because he has a limp. She thinks that she should be the center of everybody's world. She complains about Jackie's behavior because she believes that Jackie's plans do not include her. Charlie wonders if her family is thinking about her...