Jeffrey is the novel’s 12-year-old white protagonist who runs away from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, where he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle after the deaths of his parents. He was orphaned at three years old when his parents died in a trolley accident. Fed up with his detached aunt and uncle who never speak to each other, he runs across the river and ends up in Two Mills, a racially segregated town in which the white residents reside on the West End while the Black residents reside on the East End. Maniac becomes a legendary figure on both sides of town, transcending social boundaries as he accomplishes nearly impossible feats that impress the local townspeople. Throughout the novel, Maniac desperately searches for a succession of places to call home, shifting from one to the next and feeling lonely and abandoned. First, he meets the Beales, a Black family who lovingly decide to take him in after learning that he is unhoused. Maniac happily memorizes the Beales’ address because he knows the numbers symbolize family and belonging. However, some Black townspeople begin calling Maniac names and demanding that he go to the white West End.