Hillbilly Elegy

insulted my mother. Mother jokes were
never allowed, and grandmother jokes
earned the harshest punishment that my
little fists could administer. Mamaw and
Papaw ensured that I knew the basic
rules of fighting: You never start a fight;
you always end the fight if someone else
starts it; and even though you never start
a fight, it’s maybe okay to start one if a
man insults your family. This last rule
was unspoken but clear. Lindsay had a
boyfriend named Derrick, maybe her
first boyfriend, who broke up with her
after a few days. She was heartbroken as
only thirteen-year-olds can be, so I
decided to confront Derrick when I saw
him walking past our house one day. He