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Cylin BusbyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Co-author John Busby was a Falmouth, MA police officer when, in the late summer of 1979, he was shot in the face from a passing car. The shooting was likely intended to prevent him from testifying against James Meyer, who Busby had arrested for assault and endangering the life of a police officer. Meyer is the brother of Raymond Meyer, a notorious crime figure in the town of Falmouth. Busby barely survives the shooting, but most of his jaw is missing, and he endures years of therapy and reconstructive surgery to regain a semblance of a normal life.
Busby faces a gauntlet of medical procedures, the isolation of home recovery, and the virtual imprisonment of his family as a police detail watches over them 24 hours a day. Perhaps most daunting, however, is John’s struggle with his own anger. While he is certain that Raymond Meyer ordered the hit against him, the investigators drag their heels until it seems that Meyer will never be indicted (or even questioned). Rage consumes John until he begins to plot revenge, even working out the logistical details of an assassination attempt. In the end, however, John realizes the damage his anger is doing to him and his family, and he moves past it and finds peace. The Busbys eventually leave Falmouth in secrecy and relocate to Cookeville, TN where they buy a farm and finally live without fear for the first time since the shooting.
Co-author Cylin Busby, John’s daughter, is nine years old at the time of the shooting. Her life, up to this point, is school, playing in the graveyard adjacent to her family’s house, and struggling to stay quiet and occupied when her father is sleeping after an overnight shift. John’s shooting is a profound disruption of that life. Worst, for her, is the constant police presence, the escorts to and from school, and the isolation from her friends. Right at the time when she is beginning to cultivate peer relationships, those social connections are abruptly severed leaving her angry and confused. Her concerns for her father’s condition immediately after the shooting are not taken seriously, and the adults in her life sugarcoat the truth to protect her; but this only leaves her scared and confused. When her friends begin to abandon her out of fear, she doesn’t understand and blames herself, assuming she’s done something to drive them away.
Throughout the story, Cylin provides the child’s perspective lest adults who become so caught up in the procedural details of the crime forget the psychological scars that crime inflicts on John’s family. Cylin eventually returned to Massachusetts for college. She was the senior editor of Teen magazine as well as the author of several books for young readers.
John Busby’s wife, Polly, is a nursing student at the time of his shooting, training which is extremely useful during John’s at-home recovery. She is forced to assume all the duties of caring for both John and the children while completing nursing school. Despite the fear, the stress, and the workload, Polly still graduates near the top of her class. After graduation, she entertains several job offers before the family finally settles on Tennessee.
Polly’s presence in the story is one of strength and stability (punctuated by the occasional venting of frustration). While she wants to protect her children physically, she doesn’t mince words about John’s condition. She is empathetic without being overly sentimental. She tells the kids the truth as she knows it without glossing over disturbing details. She knows they will have to deal with this new reality, and, as far as she’s concerned, the sooner they accept it, the better. Polly worked in the medical profession for 30 years before retiring. She and John have been married for over 50 years.
The eldest of the three Busby children, Eric was 12 when his father was shot. While co-author Cylin doesn’t shed much light on her two brothers during their five-year ordeal (other than typical sibling rivalries), Eric emerges as the sibling who feels the greatest pressure to step up and take responsibility. When Don Price takes the boys out for target practice, Eric acclimates to the feel of the gun better than his brother Shawn. When they visit their father in the hospital for the first time, Eric remains stoic in the face of John’s disfigurement, trying, perhaps, to show his father that he can be the de facto man of the house. John Busby is a dominant presence to his family, strong and invulnerable, and Eric doesn’t want to disappoint his father by appearing weak. The stress of their situation takes its toll, however. His grades suffer, and his anger turns physical with other students at school. At the time of the memoir’s publication, Eric was an executive producer of the award-winning radio drama, Byron Chronicles.
The middle child, Shawn Busby is caught between the fear and confusion of his younger sister, Cylin, and his older brother’s attempts to prove himself. Immediately after the shooting, when an unknown car pulls up to the house and a man gets out with a rifle, the siblings hide in a closet. While Eric wants to deal with it himself—“I have a big rock in my room. We’ll tackle this guy and hit him in the head with it” (36)—Shawn suggests the more prudent option of running for help. His reactions vary from understandable fear (when he sees his father in the hospital for the first time, he runs out of the room) to physical violence (he gets into fights at school). Cylin describes Shawn as “the real artist, though. Like Mom, he could draw anything” (81). Shawn Busby is currently married and lives in New England.
Kellie, John and Polly’s niece, is 18 at the time of the shooting. She lived with the Busbys that summer, acting as babysitter (and confidante) to the kids and surrogate sister to Polly. On the night of the shooting, she hides the kids in the closet and investigates the mysterious appearance of the stranger with the gun. Kellie is forced into the role of protector and occasional therapist more than once. She comforts Cylin when the suffocating protection measures shake her self-confidence or when some random incident triggers terrifying flashbacks. However, John and Polly send Kellie home, feeling guilty for dragging her into their living nightmare. Kellie is currently a registered nurse living in New England.
Raymond Meyer (not his real name) was a well-known and feared figure in Falmouth. Meyer had lucrative contracts with the town for garbage collection and disposal, contracts that evidently placed him in powerful company. John describes him as one of Falmouth’s “untouchables,” and when John crosses him, Meyer doesn’t forget it. Meyer was suspected in a string of arsons and murders, including the disappearance of his first and second wives. Meyer’s trademark threat, “I smell smoke,” was used to intimidate anyone who might threaten his power or status or reveal his dark secrets. In fact, John suspects that the reason the investigation into his murder attempt never gains traction is because Meyer has friends inside the police department. In the end, Meyer’s brother, James, gives him up to police, confessing that he, James, drove the car and Raymond fired the shots that nearly killed John. In 2001, Meyer was charged with threatening to commit a crime and malicious destruction of property; however, he was diagnosed with dementia and found unfit to stand trial. He died in 2013 while incarcerated in the Taunton State Hospital.
Price was John Busby’s mentor during his rookie year on the police force, and he remained a close ally during his convalescence. Price, along with several other trusted friends on the force, is close with the Busby family, a regular at holiday events and parties. Price is the initial catalyst for teaching Eric and Shawn (and later, Cylin) how to shoot. At times, he seems more an uncle to the kids than their father’s colleague, giving them pep talks and telling Eric he might have to become the man of the house. Price is currently retired and living in Florida.
Ferreira was Falmouth’s Chief of Police at the time of the shooting. John and some of his friends routinely disparage Ferreira’s leadership of the department, accusing him of cronyism and, later, of actively hindering the investigation to appease Meyer. Ferreira retired from the force only four months after the shooting, a move John interprets as evidence of his corruption. He died in 2008.
After the shooting, Polly and the kids stay with Polly’s brother, Joe. Despite the danger of harboring his sister’s family, Joe and his wife Kate take them in without hesitation. Joe’s attempts to soothe the children’s fears—telling them their father will be fine, that it was just an accident—backfire when Polly gives them a version closer to the truth. Cylin craves normalcy and routine, and Joe tries to give her and her brothers that, but it’s a futile gesture despite his good intentions. Their lives are definitely not typical and pretending otherwise only results in fear and uncertainty.