The girl
The unnamed protagonist is a Yupik Native girl whose parents were killed. She ends up seeking retribution for those deaths, and although she commits the perfect murder, she accepts full responsibility, to her lawyer's chagrin. She doesn't care about legal guilt. She is tired and bored of trying to become like her community.
Grandma
There is a grandma in the story, the girl's only caretaker. When the girl is old enough, she leaves this grandmother behind, accepting a creepy man as her caretaker, though he uses her for sex. She prefers his advances to Grandma though, because her grandmother is a visual reminder of her parents' deaths, and she suffers from extreme arthritis. She reminds the girl of the death of their culture.
The old man
The old man is the one who takes care of the girl when she stumbles upon him after leaving her grandmother behind. He is sexually eager with her, and she allows him to do what he wants, perhaps as compensation for her quarters. Anyway, the old man talks with her and gives her his point of view, but eventually she leaves him behind too.
The shopkeeper
This is the murder victim that the nameless girl claims responsibility for. She willingly turns herself in, takes credit, accepts guilt, all while her lawyers are baffled. This shopkeeper secretly killed her parents by selling them hard drugs that killed them when she was too young to understand. She lures him to his death.
