Mom & Me & Mom

Vivian tells Angelou that if she does not go to school, she must find a job. Angelou wishes to become a car conductor, despite all women workers being white. She goes to the company to apply, but nobody allows her. When she tells her mother what happened, Vivian encourages her to try again. Angelou follows her advice, and the next morning, she posits herself in the company office. She calls the experience “hateful, awful [and] awkward,” as the white secretaries make fun of her (50). She does the same thing for two weeks, until a man calls her into the office and asks her why she wants the job. Eventually, Angelou succeeds, becoming the first Black woman to work as a car conductor. As her schedule becomes challenging, her mother accompanies her to work every day. Vivian carries a gun for both of their protection. This process continues for months until Angelou quits the job to return to school.

Vivian asks Angelou about her experience working. She states her mother is her “best protection,” but Vivian says she confirmed her own “power and determination” (52). She tells Angelou that she loves her and is proud of her, emphasizing that she can achieve anything in life.

At 15, Angelou returns to T. Booker Washington High School. She is allowed to stay out some nights, but only under Bailey’s supervision. One night, she goes out with her teenage friends, but her brother is not with her. They go to a Mexican neighborhood and stay out late. Without money, Angelou has to walk home with some of her friends. She enjoyed the night, despite knowing she will be in trouble. At home, Vivian strikes her face and yells. Bailey wakes and takes Angelou to her room. He tells her to clean her face and relax.

The next morning, Angelou sees her face is severely injured. Bailey appears with a suitcase and tells her to pack because they are leaving the house. When Vivian sees Angelou, she is shocked and apologizes. Bailey declares no one hits his sister. Vivian pleads for them to stay, kneeling and asking both God and Angelou for forgiveness. She claims she became “crazy” thinking something bad happened to Angelou, a young woman wandering around at night. She starts crying, and her children embrace her. Angelou and Bailey go back to their rooms, and Bailey says their mother is “a very strong woman” (58). He mentions she could have apologized in the presence of their stepfather Clidell and houseman Papa Ford, but Angelou says she would lose her power over them. Bailey feels Vivian lost her power over him and Angelou, but she notes Vivian granted it to them. 

Bailey enters Angelou’s room and announces he is going to enlist in the Navy, like his father. Angelou mentions he has not graduated from high school, but he insists he is old enough to go. He retorts that he should have stayed with their grandmother. Angelou says their mother needs him, but Bailey voices resentment. Later, he announces he joined the Navy. Vivian questions him, but he scorns her. Weeks later, he leaves. Angelou and Vivian miss him but rarely discuss his departure. Vivian prepares to travel to Alaska to check on the casinos that she and Clidell own.

Angelou becomes anxious about her body and development as a woman. She worries she might grow to be “unhappy” and a “lesbian.” She notes some boys have become attracted to her. There is a young man named Babe who reciprocates Angelou’s interest. One day, she flirts with him, and they go to a friend’s house, where they have sex. She feels disappointed, as sex did not make her feel more like a woman.

Two months later, Angelou discovers she is pregnant. She informs Babe, who refuses to accept the fact. She hides her pregnancy from the family, as her mother keeps traveling back and forth from Alaska. When Bailey visits, Angelou reveals her pregnancy, and he advises her to keep it secret until her graduation from high school. Eventually, she graduates. Anxious, she leaves a note in Clidell’s bedroom, saying she is pregnant. Her stepfather reassures her and calls her mother. Soon, Vivian returns, and Angelou is uncertain of her reaction, feeling guilty and scared. Vivian asks about the baby’s father and if he and Angelou are in love. Angelou denies it, and Vivian declares that “this family is going to have a wonderful baby” (69). Angelou is relieved and feels her mother respects her.

Vivian stays with Angelou, telling her stories about pregnancies and births. When Angelou is about to deliver, Vivian bathes and shaves her. Angelou notes that her mother was a nurse. She takes Angelou to a hospital, but the doctor is late, so she and the other nurses help her give birth. Angelou welcomes a son, Guy. Later, she finds a job and decides to move. She calls Vivian “mother” for the first time, and Vivian says she can always return home.