At the beginning of the story, Squeaky sees herself as Raymond's protector. In fact, a lot of other people see her in that light as well. Raymond is older than Squeaky, but many believe that Squeaky is the older sibling. They believe this because Squeaky is the one that is constantly looking out for and protecting Raymond.
But a lot of people call him my little brother cause he needs looking after cause he’s not quite right.
In some ways, Squeaky sees herself as a mother figure of sorts for Raymond. He can't care for himself and protect himself, so Squeaky must do it for him.
“You got anything to say to my brother, you say it to me, Mary Louise Williams of Raggedy Town, Baltimore.”
“What are you, his mother?” sasses Rosie.
“That’s right, Fatso."
Squeaky's attitude about Raymond changes almost instantly when she sees him running on the...
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other side of the fence during her race.
And on the other side of the fence is Raymond with his arms down to his side and the palms tucked up behind him, running in his very own style, and it’s the first time I ever saw that and I almost stop to watch my brother Raymond on his first run.
Squeaky is so shocked by what she sees that she almost stops racing. It's then after her race that Squeaky has time to analyze what she saw. Squeaky now sees Raymond in a whole new light. He is no longer somebody that needs her protection. Rather, he is now someone that can benefit from her training. She no longer sees his disability. Squeaky now sees his future abilities and how she can help bring those to the forefront.
And it occurs to me, watching how smoothly he climbs hand over hand and remembering how he looked running with his arms down to his side and with the wind pulling his mouth back and his teeth showing and all, it occurred to me that Raymond would make a very fine runner. . . I can always retire as a runner and begin a whole new career as a coach with Raymond as my champion.