I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Chapter 12

One afternoon when everyone else is out, Mr. Freeman tells Maya to buy some milk. When she returns, his penis is out of his pants. He beckons her, and she tries to say no, but he grabs her. His face looks kind but expressionless. He tells her he won't hurt her much, then tells her that he will kill her or Bailey if she screams or tells on him. Then she feels unbelievable pain, and passes out as he rapes her.

She wakes up some time later, and Mr. Freeman is washing her. She feels very sleepy, but he makes her walk to the library. She can't sit on the hard benches in the library, so she tries to find Bailey at the baseball diamond. He isn't there, and she heads home, but the pain and shock overtake her. She walks slowly and carefully, almost falling unconscious. She hides her bloodstained underwear under her mattress and gets into bed. Everyone thinks she is sick, and she is too scared to tell the truth. Her mother thinks she has the measles. Mr. Freeman comes to her bed and threatens her. That night, she hears her mother and Mr. Freeman arguing, and she is afraid for her mother's life. The next morning when she asks, her mother informs her that Mr. Freeman has left. When Mother and Bailey begin to change the bed, they find her stained underwear.