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I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Chapter 36
Maya keeps her pregnancy a secret. She has no idea what to do-her only consolation is that now she is sure she isn't a lesbian. She cannot blame the father of her child in any way-it was she who approached him, and she knows that. She is afraid of what her mother will say, so she keeps quiet. Though she will not lie, she is not above deceit, so she does everything in her power to make her mother think she is a perfect 16-year-old student who would never dream of getting pregnant. Her mother leaves for Alaska to open a night club. After eight months and a week, Maya finally tells her stepfather. Her mother is angry, but accepts that these things happen. Maya goes through a short, relatively painless labor, and her son is born. She loves him possessively, but she is afraid of hurting him. After three weeks, Mother insists that the baby will sleep in bed with Maya. In the middle of the night, Mother wakes Maya and shows her that she has unconsciously moved the baby next to her, protecting it under her arm. Mother says, "See, you don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking." Chapter 36, pg. 281
