I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Vivian takes Maya to the hospital, where Bailey convinces his sister to tell him who raped her. Maya confesses, and Mr. Freeman is arrested. When the time comes for Mr. Freeman's trial, Maya comes to the courtroom with her family, except for Bailey. She wears a thick blue coat with brass buttons, and although the weather is too hot for a coat, in it, she feels shielded from this "strange and unfriendly place" (84). When the lawyer asks Maya if Mr. Freeman had ever touched her before the rape, she hesitates how to answer. The girl wants to tell everyone how Mr. Freeman "had loved [her] once for a few minutes and how he had held [her] close" (85), but she is too scared to disappoint her relatives. Maya realizes that Mr. Freeman has done something terrible, but she feels as if "[she] had helped him do it" (84), so she lies and tells the court that the rape was the first such instance.

Mr. Freeman receives his sentence, a year and a day in prison, but later the same day, his lawyer manages to get him released. One day, when Bailey and Maya are at Grandmother Baxter's house, a white policeman comes in.