Rusty James is fourteen but he acts much older. Like his father he smokes and drinks. Rusty James is detached from his girlfriend the same way that his father is detached from him and his brother. Rusty James and his brother scavange and steal and don't work for a living, the same way that Rusty James' father is on welfare. Rusty James and his father seem to be content in the place where they are, neither of them are trying to get out by getting a better job, or in Rusty James' case, an education. Rusty James is scared that people are going to leave him, the same way that his father is; after his wife (Rusty James' mother) left, the father and son both are shut off. However, unlike his father, Rusty James has his brother and his friends, his father only has alcohol. His father is like a zombie, Rusty James is as well, they are both emotionally detached.