At 15, Jay is the older, more academically inclined Kurnitz brother. He feels highly responsible for his younger sibling, especially given their terrifying new living arrangement and their mother's recent death. He exhibits a desperate, forced maturity but still harbors normal teenage fears and impulses.

Arty is the 13-year-old Kurnitz brother, known more for his athletic interests and playful attitude than academic prowess. His relative immaturity frees him to speak his mind, make jokes, and occasionally confront adults without fully weighing the consequences.

Grandma is a stern, elderly German immigrant who runs Kurnitz's Kandy store in Yonkers. She is famously unyielding, physically imposing with a pronounced limp, and rules her household through fear. Her harsh exterior is a product of deep wartime trauma, creating a belief that people must be completely self-sufficient and emotionally hardened to survive.

Bella is Grandma's 35-year-old daughter who lives above the family candy shop. She has an intellectual disability—which the boys suspect stems from physical abuse—and is treated entirely like a child by her restrictive mother. Despite her limited independence and tendency toward tantrums, she is incredibly warm and desperate to create her own loving household.

Eddie is a widowed father drowning in $9,000 of debt from his late wife Evelyn's medical bills. To pay off a loan shark, he makes the agonizing decision to travel the country collecting scrap iron for the war effort. This dangerous, exhausting work forces him to leave his sons in his estranged mother's abusive care.

Louie is Grandma's renegade son, a petty criminal who operates on the fringes of the mob. He possesses a flashy, dangerous charm that initially captivates his nephews when he sneaks into the apartment. He lives his life with a complete disregard for the law, viewing financial self-sufficiency as paramount.

Gert is another of Grandma's daughters who visits the Yonkers apartment. She suffers from a psychosomatic breathing difficulty that only manifests when she returns to her childhood home. Her habit of speaking on the inhale physically illustrates the deep-seated fear Grandma instills in all her children.

Johnny is a 40-year-old movie theater usher who lives at a facility for people with intellectual disabilities. He shares Bella's struggles with learning and becomes the central figure in her dreams of independence and starting a restaurant business.