Jericho imagined that Atticus, with his delicate sensibilities and his constant need to be perfect, was probably annoying to his younger siblings. It didn’t mean Jericho had to like the way they treated Atticus. And it certainly didn’t mean he’d tolerate it in his presence. Was Atticus an annoyingly finicky perfectionist? Yes. But he was Jericho’s annoyingly finicky perfectionist and he would protect what was his, even if it meant hacking off his future in-laws’ appendages until they got the point.
