When Maya Angelou was three years old and her brother was four, they were sent from their father in California to their paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Their grandmother runs a store there, which is the center of life in the Negro community of the town. Maya starts reading and enjoying literature while she is in Stamps, Shakespeare especially, along with prominent black writers. Maya talks about her great love for her brother. They are …showed first 75 words of 2254 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2254 total…a lesbian really is. She turns to her mother to convince her that she is normal, but Maya does not feel secure after her mother's assurances. She decides to get a boyfriend, so she asks a good-looking neighbor boy to have sex with her, and they do. There is no pleasure or mystery in the experience, and it doesn't settle her mind either. But, a few weeks later, she finds out that she is pregnant.