Coco Rodriguez
Coco Rodriguez is one of the two young women profiled in the book. Although Random Family is a work of non-fiction, Coco is one of the book's protagonists and main characters. The emotional core of LeBlanc's book runs through Coco, a young but still very headstrong Puerto Rican girl.
As with Jessica Martinez (the book's other main character) Coco Rodriguez is involved with drug kingpin "Boy George," who leads a glamorous life because of his business endeavors. And he takes Coco along with him. She wants nothing more than to find love in her life, leading her to date an assorted amount of men, several of whom get her pregnant. Coco subsequently gives birth to different children and ultimately goes to jail, where she pays for her tacit involvement in the drug trade.
Jessica Martinez
Over the course of the book, Jessica turns from 16 to 30. Although still naive and lack of life experience because of her age at the start of the novel, she quickly grows up and gets hardened by difficult circumstances. In many ways, the book is about Jessica's journey from starry-eyed youth to traumatized (mainly because of her relations with "Boy George," a drug kingpin who treats her very poorly) older woman who claims to have not much left to live for. It was the glitz and glamor that drew her into "Boy George's" world, but it was pain and hardship that drew her out of it.
More than anything, Jessica wants to be loved. In her quest for love, she looks at all the wrong places: drugs, men, and when she eventually goes to prison, women. In fact, during her time in prison, Jessica engages in lesbian relationships with other women. She wants to be loved and will stop at nothing to find it with whoever she sees.
Boy George
Boy George is the central antagonist in the novel. A young, twenty-something drug kingpin, Boy George lives in the lap of luxury. He has glitz things and surrounds himself with beautiful women, many of whom will do anything to please him (like Jessica and Coco). Before turning 30, Boy George becomes a multimillionaire, leading him to the authorities when he becomes reckless. He is a terrible man who desires nothing more than sex, money, and power. He is a menace.
