Small Steps

Rex Alvin Washburn, “X-Ray,” is Armpit’s best friend. X-Ray serves as a foil for Armpit, derailing Armpit’s wish to stay out of trouble by persuading him to join a ticket-scalping scheme. X-Ray, a 17-year-old Black teenager who is skinny and wears glasses, has “the kind of smile that kept you from hating him no matter how annoying he was” (7). He proudly drives a beaten-up Honda Civic with the personalized license plate that reads X-RAY. Armpit met X-Ray at Camp Green Lake where X-Ray had been sent for selling bags of parsley and oregano to customers who thought it was marijuana, typical of the get-rich-quick schemes X-Ray is attracted to. In contrast to Armpit’s thoughtful and conservative nature, X-Ray is impulsive and proud, willing to jump blindly into the “business” of scalping without any experience. X-Ray’s pride is evident when he drives away from a $270 deal because the buyers show up late, saying “Our respect is worth a lot more than that” (59). Despite his inclination to push the legality of his actions to the limit, X-Ray is a kind and loyal friend, both to Armpit and Ginny. Part of X-Ray’s charm is his banter, but his inability to stop talking causes the drama that unfolds around Kaira’s letter. X-Ray and Armpit both have each other’s back during the investigation and during confrontations with Felix, showing the strength of their friendship. When X-Ray makes counterfeit tickets to give to Armpit, it is out of a desire both to keep everyone happy and to make a profit. X-Ray is impulsive and irresponsible, but he is at heart a good and kind person. After the brutal wakeup call at the hands of Moses, X-Ray realizes the benefit of earning an honest living and accepts the landscaping job Armpit’s boss offers him, showing that he, like Armpit, is ready to turn his life around.

Ginny and her mother, who are white, live in the other half of the duplex where Armpit lives. Ginny is 10 years old, small, skinny and wears thick glasses. Ginny, the deuteragonist (secondary protagonist) in the story, motivates Armpit to turn his life around, and gives his life meaning. Ginny suffered a bleed in her brain when she was born, which resulted in cerebral palsy. Ginny stutters when she speaks, especially when she is stressed, and she has trouble keeping her balance due to her impaired motor skills. Despite living with significant disabilities, Ginny is optimistic and lives life to the fullest. She is extremely empathetic and nonjudgmental. Ginny and Armpit “hit it off from the beginning. She didn’t fear him, and he didn’t pity her” (21). Ginny and Armpit’s unlikely relationship speaks to the underlying themes of the story—discrimination, expectations, and acceptance. Ginny’s character is pure, kind, and endlessly patient. Ginny addresses the discrimination that she faces with a forthright explanation of cerebral palsy without any hint of bitterness or reproach. She sees people for who they are, not what they look like, hoping and expecting the same courtesy will be extended to her. Ginny does not judge anyone based on race, gender, or any other physical feature, but she is not oblivious to the differences that other people hesitate over. When Kaira comments on Ginny and Armpit’s friendship, “It’s so great you can be such good friends, when, you know, you’re so different. I mean different ages” (133), Ginny quickly points out, “Different colors, too” (133).

Ginny’s mother is like Ginny. She is kind and supportive and trusts Armpit to look after Ginny; she has more faith in him than Armpit’s own mother. Ginny’s father left when she was a baby, something that Ginny blames herself for. Although Ginny seems to be comfortable with her disabilities, the backstories she invents for her stuffed animals show that she sometimes struggles and recognizes that people jump to the wrong conclusions based purely on appearance. Ginny has a stuffed owl with huge eyes who is blind and a stuffed dog with big ears who is deaf—seemingly at odds with their appearance. Ginny, who is smart, is called “’tard” by some kids at school because she has trouble walking and stutters. The stuffed animal who brings Ginny the most comfort is Coo, a rabbit/human hybrid who has leukemia. When Armpit nominates Coo to be the “ruler of the world” (64) in his speech class presentation, he sums up Ginny’s character: “[E]ven though Ginny is only ten years old and weighs less than sixty pounds, she’s the strongest and bravest person I know” (64).

Kaira DeLeon’s real name is Kathy Spears. She is a 17-year-old Black singer whose popular songs are on the radio and who is in the middle of a concert tour spanning 45 cities. It seems as if Kaira is on top of the world. Her mother and stepfather, Jerome, manage her money and her life (Kaira’s father was killed in Iraq). Kaira has grown up surrounded by adults telling her what to do, how to dress, and with whom to interact. Her mother and Jerome expect her to act like an adult on stage, but they treat her like a child off-stage, not allowing her access to her bank details and controlling everything she does. Her alcoholic mother insists that Kaira rides alone in a luxury tour bus, separate from her middle-aged band members, who have the impression that Kaira is a spoiled brat since they never get the chance to know her. When she secretly joins the band in their bus, they see she is a normal, friendly teenager. Despite the luxury, fame, and thousands of adoring fans, Kaira is lonely and depressed, spending her free time playing video games and watching TV alone. Because she can disappear into her music, she feels free only when she sings. Therefore, when Kaira, desperate for a peer group, meets Armpit and Ginny, she instantly calls them “friends.” Kaira refers to herself as “pathetic” in her letter, acknowledging that she is lonely, and that Armpit and Ginny are her “only friends” (172). Like Armpit, Kaira has grown up around people who unkindly judge her, so when they find (and understand) each other, they connect quickly and deeply.

When Jerome, her manager, was writing her songs, Kaira’s lyrics were mostly sexy love songs, but when she is free to write and perform on her own, her true feelings of being lost and struggling to move forward come out. Unfortunately, it takes the traumatic, life-altering attack to set her free.

Jerome, a “large athletic-looking [B]lack man” (127), is Kaira’s manager and stepfather, having married Kaira’s mother shortly before Kaira’s tour. Jerome is the antagonist in the narrative. He is bullying, controlling, manipulative, and murderous. Jerome wrote the death threats to Kaira from “Billy Boy,” so he’d have an excuse to hire a bodyguard to isolate Kaira. Jerome came up with his own nickname, “El Genius,” and insists people use it, never realizing the sarcastic spin Kaira puts on it.

Jerome is having an affair with Aileen, Kaira’s tour travel coordinator. Aileen (whose name in her passport is Denise Linaria) is the second antagonist. She is small, stylish, efficient, and compact “like a cell phone” (73) and is kind and friendly to Kaira and her mother. Aileen keeps up a perfect image while Jerome is openly hostile to Kaira and the band members and falsely believes that he is the reason behind Kaira’s success. Jerome gloats to Aileen about how “smart” he is, saying “Am I a genius or am I a genius?” (194) while explaining his plan to frame Armpit for Kaira’s murder, oblivious to the fact that Aileen is setting him up. Jerome is so self-centered and naïve that he believes Aileen is in love with him. Kaira sums up how unlikely that is when she thinks “couldn’t imagine someone as smart and as cool as [Aileen] being involved with someone as gross as El Genius” (72).

Jerome’s overinflated ego hides his weakness, insecurity, and fear, of which Aileen takes full advantage. When Jerome attacks Kaira with the baseball bat, he reveals the depth of his evil. He is shaking with fear, fully aware of the horror he is about to commit against a teenage girl for money. Aileen is no better than Jerome, willing to aid in the murder of a girl she has befriended and frame the man she supposedly loves. Aileen and Jerome share only greed in common. They have already embezzled nearly $3 million from Kaira’s trust account, but they want more.

Fred is Kaira’s bodyguard, hired by Jerome after threatening letters started arriving for Kaira from “Billy Boy.” Fred is a 30-year-old muscular white guy with a buzz cut. Kaira takes her frustration out on Fred, who tolerates her curt comments and puts up with the unkind nickname she calls him, “Doofus.” He has often heard Kaira tell him, “As soon as I turn eighteen, you’re going to be the second person I fire” (12), but he never loses his temper or answers back. He tells her that he’s just doing his job. Fred is a steady, kind, and attentive character, and he can see how unhappy Kaira is. Fred doesn’t become Kaira’s “friend” because he takes his job seriously, but he genuinely wants to protect this vulnerable, lonely girl. Rather than ignore the brutal attack on Kaira by his boss, Fred tries to save her, nearly getting killed in the process. When Kaira thanks him, he simply says “Just doin’ my job, Miss DeLeon” (250), with a wink. Kaira recognizes the huge risk that Fred took, and, after processing the events and her own behavior, in a touching moment Kaira apologizes to him, saying “I’m sorry I was such a doofus” (250).