• keep in practice, she adds that Raymond keeps up because if he tarries, someone may ridicule him or ask him something insulting. While she does say "shame on Raymond if he can't keep up," Squeaky quickly adds that he does, "of course," make sure he stays with his sister. Obviously, she has trained him to stay with her because of her concern for him. 
• Further, when Squeaky mentions that as she walks down Broadway, she encounters Gretchen and "her sidekicks." Alluding to a girl named Gretchen, Squeaky comments that this girl makes derogatory remarks about Raymond, but she does not realize that she and Raymond are similar--"she can't afford to throw stones." Clearly, she feels negatively toward Gretchen out of loyalty for her brother.
• When Gretchen and her friends stop and speak to her, Squeaky watches as they look at Raymond "who has just brought his mule team to a standstill" and they prepare to say something derogatory. When Mary Louise Williams addresses Raymond, Squeaky intervenes defensively, "You got anything to say to my brother, you say it to me...."
• After Rosie retorts with disrespect, Squeaky addresses her in a challenging manner until the girls depart.
• As she arrives at the park for the race, Squeaky puts Raymond in the little swings while she registers and warms up. When it is time for her race, Raymond "is hollering from the swings" since he knows she will soon run. As she takes her place, Squeaky looks for Raymond and finds him on the other side of the fence, "bending down with his fingers on the ground just like he knew what he was doing." She thinks of scolding him, but refrains from exerting the effort since she knows he is all right.
• As she races, Squeaky notices that her brother is also running along the fence, "palms tucked up behind him,...in his own style." She is clearly impressed as she says she has almost stopped to stare at him.
• Squeaky comes in first. Then, she hears her brother screaming for her, and she watches as he climbs over the fence. "...it occurs to me that Raymond would make a very fine runner," she lovingly considers.
• Now her thoughts turn to Raymond as she considers trying the piano and letting Raymond run. "...I've got a roomful of ribbons and medals and awards. But what has Raymond got to call his own?" Lovingly, Squeaky desires awards for Raymond, and is clearly more concerned about her brother than she is about having won the race. 

In this touching story, Squeaky exhibits a maturity well beyond her years. Clearly, she possesses a mature understanding of human nature, especially that of girls, perceiving easily their petty grievances and inclinations as she accurately interprets their looks, gestures, and words of gratuitous malice and rivalry.

Beyond this understanding, Squeaky possesses a maternal instinct about Raymond as she has Raymond walk on the inside of the sidewalk of a busy boulevard so that he will be safe from passing automobiles. She also has a sister's fierce loyalty for her mentally challenged brother. While at first she appears to be a more typical sibling, remarking "shame on Raymond if he can't keep up [with her as she runs]", she later makes a comment which indicates that she is diligent about not allowing people to get near him enough to say or do something to him. In another instance, in commenting about when Gretchen and "her sidekicks" approach Squeaky, she maligns them for their treatment of Raymond, describing Rosie as having

...a big mouth where Raymond is concerned and is too stupid to know that there is not a big deal of difference between herself and Raymond and that she can't afford to throw stones. 

Furthermore, in several instances Squeaky is ready to defend Raymond, using such threatening phrases as "...they're about to see what trouble they can get into through him." Finally, that her love for Raymond is completely unselfish is evinced in Squeaky's loving reaction to Raymond's having run along with her in the race on the outside of the fence. She is so proud of him, even if he does run with his teeth protruding and his hands at his side: "my brother Raymond, a great runner in the family tradition." She is so moved by his run that she willingly would give him some of her awards 

...I've got a roomful of ribbons and medals and awards. But what has Raymond got to call his own?

Here, the perception of Squeaky alter about Raymond; for her, he finds more meaning in life than she has previously thought.