Character Analysis
James King
James King is one bad dude. Bad, bad, bad. Steve used to think King was bad in a good way, but not so much anymore.
Sitting at a defense table on trial for murder ain't so cool, and Steve can't help but laugh at King when he tries to scare him out of making a deal with the prosecutor. King has to try, though. It's his M.O.
King curled his lip and narrowed his eyes. What was he going to do, scare me? All the times I had looked at him and wanted to be tough like him, and now I saw him sitting in handcuffs and trying to scare me. (7.23)
Truth is, King is a loser whose life revolves around the next getover for easy cash. He knows what this means, too, that someday he'll get caught. So whether or not he actually shot Aguinaldo Nesbitt doesn't matter so much. As he says, "If the man wants you, he got you. Ain't nothing to it, man" (18.259)—and King is exactly the type of guy that the man wants.
For a bad dude like King, a trial like this was bound to happen sooner or later.
Richard "Bobo" Evans
Bobo is such a thug that he refuses to wear a suit on the witness stand, preferring instead to stay in his orange prison jumpsuit. Real classy.
Not that he's a stranger to the comfy orange garb—the dude's been "arrested for breaking and entering, grand theft auto, and one time taking a radio and one time for fighting a guy that died" (16.98). Oh yeah, and he's currently serving time for "selling drugs" (16.96). Not exactly the kind of guy you want to bump into on a dark night.
The most important thing about Bobo, though, is that he testifies for the prosecution:
- Was he in the drugstore? Yup.
- Did he see Steve act as lookout? Yup.
- Did he know about the shooting? Yup.
- He and King even chowed on fried chicken after the whole shindig went down… for real.
Bobo's weakness as a witness is all jumbled up with his strength. On the one hand, his testimony matters because he was there. But on the other hand, his testimony doesn't matter because he's a rat, and he'll betray anyone to get himself a plea deal. He even admits it: "What you saying? Am I trying to cop a plea? I just told you I was trying to cop" (16.162).
Here's to the slammer, Bobo.
Osvaldo Cruz
Osvaldo plays the wannabe-tough-guy role, and he plays it well. At least, he does when he needs to. Cruz is a fourteen-year-old big mouth with plenty to say to peeps like Steve, calling him "a lame looking for a name" in addition to some more… shall we say colorful… terms (6.13). In his own mind, he's a big, bad member of the Diablos.
On the stand, he's a different story though. He speaks "softly, timidly," and says big bad King and Steve and Bobo scared him into taking part in the robbery (6.98). For real?
This guy is the ultimate poser.