Hillbilly Elegy

up, you son of a bitch.” My cousin
Bonnie Rose ran to the back door and
began screaming over and over, “Son of
a bitch! Son of a bitch!” Mamaw
hobbled over to Bonnie Rose and
scooped her up in her arms. “Shhh! You
can’t say that or you’ll get me in
trouble.” But she was laughing so hard
that she could barely get the words out.
A few weeks later, I got home from
school and asked Mamaw how her day
had gone. She told me that she’d had a
great day because she’d been watching
Lindsay’s son Kameron. “He asked me if
he could say ‘fuck’ like I do. I told him
yes, but only at my house.” Then she
chuckled quietly to herself. Regardless