Johnny says his parents treat him badly. He has a terrible relationship with his parents, who are physically abusive and neglect him on a regular basis. Essentially, the Greasers are Johnny's surrogate family and care more about him than his actual father and mother. He would rather be noticed by Darry even for doing something wrong than never be noticed. Also, he would want to be cared for by Darry.
It is ironic that Mr. Summers puts on all the fun events. The reader would expect the lottery to also be a fun event, when really it is a horrific event.
