AP: You went through a lot as a young, single mother. What role did your mother play during those years?
Maya Angelou: At one point, Guy was about 3, maybe 4, and I had told him never to go into my purse. Every penny had to be accounted for as far as I was concerned. And I found one day he was chewing gum, so I asked him where did you get the gum. He said out of your purse. So I said you went into my purse? ‘Yes, I wanted the gum.’
So I got a switch from a tree outside, and I pulled his pants down and I spanked him with the switch. And he just looked at me and said, ‘But don’t you love me anymore? Ain’t this your baby?’ And of course it just broke my heart. I said, ‘Well I hope you’ll never do that again.’ He said, ‘And I hope you won’t, either.’
I said, ‘You had lip and I’ve just given you a seeing-to and you still have lip?’ And he said, ‘I mean, do you realize how big you are. I’m only 4 years old or something.’ My mother, who was in the house, heard all of this and she asked, ‘So what will you do?’ I said, ‘Well I’ll never hit him again.’ She said, ‘That’s smart.’
The Interview
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