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DAVID MICHAEL McGUINESS

Dave’s an honest-to-God South Side Chicagoan. He loves pro wrestling, the White Sox, and the Chicago Cardinals football team (who left old Comiskey Park in 1959 and play in Arizona now, but they’re still the team of any real South Sider). He’s 24 and lives at home; he’s got a great girlfriend, a decent job, and a bunch of good buddies.

The problem is that Dave wonders if there isn’t more to life than what he’s doing. He’s never really gone anywhere. He didn’t finish college. And his girlfriend wants to get married.

It might be time to grow up for Dave. He’d be cool with that if he didn’t have so many lingering questions about the rest of the world. He wants to know if there’s more to life than dinners at the Olive Garden, a house in the next subdivision, and keeping track of wedding anniversaries.

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MARVIN RENALDI, Jr.

The rowdies of the South Suburbs don’t get much rowdier than Marv. He’s trouble: the kind of guy that makes fathers lock up their daughters; the kind of kid every mother didn’t want their kids to play with. Like his longtime best friend, Dave, he’s 24 and lives at home. He works construction by day and looks for trouble by night.

The law in the South Suburbs has its eye on Marv. But don’t think that being on probation is going to keep Marv from standing up for what’s right. Or for what’s wrong. Or for whatever. Come on, dude, a fight’s a fight. But know this: befriend Marv and someone’s always got your back; cross him, and you might as well start writing your will.

Since graduating from high school, Marv’s had quite a ride. He doesn’t want it to end, and he knows it might. A lot of it depends on what Dave decides this weekend.

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BENJAMIN WOODROW McGUINESS

Dave’s little brother, Ben, is doing what Dave never did. He’s (allegedly) finishing college and looking to move on from the South Suburbs of Chicago. A 22-year-old college student at The University of Wisconsin, Ben’s spending the summer at home, goofing around and hanging out.

Ben doesn’t know what the future holds. That’s fine. He doesn’t have to decide now. The summer’s for partying with his brother and their buddies. It’s for being less than responsible. Besides, he knows that if he makes a mess--at work, at home, or out partying--his big brother will be there to solve everything.

Ben’s always playing around on his guitar, plucking away, and thinking up songs. Nobody really knows if he’s any good.

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KAREN ROSS

Karen’s the girl you wish actually lived next door. She’s pretty, she’s smart, she has a good job, and she has a very clear picture of the future. And she wants Dave McGuiness, her boyfriend of about a year, in it. Like the others, she’s in her early 20s and hasn’t moved out of her parents’ house just yet.

But Karen’s got a different set of pressures on her. The other women at the Embassy Suites, where she works, are all getting married. So are most of her friends.

That’s the thing. Karen does want to marry Dave. She wants the fairy tale ending. She understands he might need some time to think things over, but she knows he’ll make the right decision. They’re in love, after all.