Hillbilly Elegy

particular doctrinal disputes.
I doubt he would have gotten upset if
I’d asked those questions, but I never did
because I didn’t know how he’d
respond. I didn’t know whether he’d tell
me I was a spawn of Satan and send me
away. I didn’t know how much of our
new relationship was built on his sense
that I was a good kid. I didn’t know how
he’d react if I listened to those Zeppelin
CDs in his house with my younger
siblings around. That not knowing
gnawed at me to the point where I could
no longer take it.
I think Mamaw understood what was
going on in my head, even though I never
told her explicitly. We spoke on the