i think a lot about lonnie constantly snapping at a young jonathan for being too needy and weak, and it's all his mother's fault for coddling him too much, when the real reason she does most of the parenting is because he keeps pushing it off onto her, but as jonathan grows up, joyce comes to believe lonnie has become more patient as a father, but what's really happening is that jonathan is learning that there's little point in crying or asking for help if it's only going to make his father mad, so he learns to be self-sufficient, he learns to read his father's moods, and after will is born, he makes sure to always stay close to his little brother whenever it's just their father at home, he acts as a buffer between lonnie and will, he knows how to keep his father from snapping, and he knows how to comfort will, and it gets to the point where it's assumed that if lonnie has to drive will somewhere, jonathan will always go along, because jonathan makes everything easier for lonnie, really, he's the one looking after will, and jonathan himself feels anxious if he isn't there to make will feel safe
