Manaloosa was all abuzz over my reporting that Johnny Maynard shot Chuck Allen in the head with a 22 on Wednesday. My interview with Melanie Allen, Chuck's mother, yielded only basic information. It was clear that she didn't want her son talking to me, and I respected that, but she told me off the record that she's as terrified of the Maynards as most people in town. The shooting affirmed her worst fears
It sounds like Chuck will be fine so long as the bullet doesn’t move from the sinus cavity where it lodged, doing no damage to his brain and very little to his looks. He just may have to explain it to doctors and airport security personnel later in life. The incident barely made the Manaloosa Shade. The police blotter noted the specifics of the 911 call and I kept the article short and sweet. A small town reporter can quickly lose the protection of press credentials when the subject of an article feels singled out. It’s generally been talked about at the diner in hushed tones, since pretty much everyone is already afraid of Maynard, and he’s only fourteen.
Tom Ferrell, the officer who responded to the shooting, just shakes his head over his breakfast, looking nervously out the window while he eats his eggs. Across from him in the booth sits Kenny Savory, owner of The Savory Café and usually the main cook. Tom secretly worries that his uneventful career in a quiet town could be completely upended at some point in the not too distant future. A 22 is not a gun that upsets a lot of people, or raises cries for gun control and background checks. But Maynard, yeah, he’s the kind of kid who could arm himself waist deep and shoot up Manaloosa High someday. Ferrell shakes off the disturbing thought and pushes a bite of French toast through some maple syrup, then swallows hard.