Elliott Ortiz
Elliott is an injured veteran of the Iraq War who now works in a Subway restaurant. He was essentially raised by his Aunt Ginny even though his mother is very much alive. He is close to his cousin Yazmin, wrecked by the imminent passing of Ginny, estranged from his mother and must deal with visitations from a Ghost capable of repeating just one phrase in Arabic.
Yazmin Ortiz
With the passing of Ginny, “Yaz” inherits the mantle of being Elliott’s centerpiece of support. Just barely into her thirties, she works as an adjunct music professor at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia. Although rightly considered a co-protagonist of the narrative, her primary role in the drama is that of lifeline for Elliott as he tries to navigate the death of the woman who raised him and the recovering addict/webmaster/semi-recluse that is the woman who gave birth to him.
Odessa Ortiz aka “Haikumom”
Odessa is Elliott’s biological mother and “Haikumom” is her screen name on the website she founded and administrate: Recover-Together.com. Part of the problematic relationship she has with her son may be due to the fact that during the period covered by the narrative Elliott is twenty-four and Odessa is thirty-nine. Although Ginny is her own sister, she disengages from any active participation in her funeral arrangements and ceremony, preferring to write haikus as a daily devotional of support for the users of her website and reaching out what ability she has to help toward those fellow addicts.
Professor Aman and Ghost
Ghost is a figure seen only by Elliott who speaks just one phrase in Arabic. Professor Aman is a professor who also teaches at Swarthmore whom Elliott gets to translate the phrase into English.
Orangutan and Chutes&Ladders
Orangutan and Chutes&Ladders are the online aliases of two people whom Hakiumom is helping through addiction recovery. Orangutan is actually an adopted Japanese-American girl named Madeline Mays currently living in Japan where she is trying to track down her biological parents. She has just returned to the website after three months devoted to becoming clean and sober. Her counterpart is an African American named “Buddy” Wilkins who calls San Diego home. Neither have ever met Odessa in the real world and their narrative trek leads them toward meeting each other when Chutes&Ladders flies to Japan.
Fountainhead
Fountainhead is the alias of a new arrival on Odessa’s website. He also lives in Philadelphia where he was recently laid off from his job as a computer programmer. He is wealthy enough to drive a Porsche and stable enough to have a wife and son. Though the son suspects something is amiss, neither realize the man they known simply as John is a long-time crack addict. Eventually he moves his relationship with Haikmom into the real world, becoming Odessa’s emergency contact and stepping in as her caretaker when she has a relapse.
