Ika
Ika is the mother of two boys, and the family lives in California as immigrants. Discovering the difficulty of life, their father abandoned them, leaving Ika to support two restless, angry boys in a country where she doesn't speak the language, without any family or friends to help her.
Gabe
Gabe is the sweeter, younger child. This novel shows his resistance to the pull of the criminal underworld, but eventually, he is angered by a racist who insults the sacrifices of his mother, and after that, Gabe finds himself involved in crime as well.
Tomas
Tomas is more openly angry than his little brother. Whereas Gabe tends to make the best of bad situations, Tomas uses his anger as license to commit serious crimes. Ultimately, Tomas is upset about his father's betrayal, but it corrupts him until finally, he is a truly destructive person.
Uncle Betino
When Uncle Betino finds out that Ika's husband left their family behind, he offers to accept the boys back to his house in the Philippines for a chance at a regular life, but Ika won't send them because she doesn't want to be without her boys in such a time of need.
