Mom & Me & Mom

Angelou meets Mark, a Black man who dreamed of becoming a boxer. Mark had an accident and lost three fingers, which thwarted his plan. They spend time together, and Angelou finds him a tender partner, feeling “safe and secure” (83).

However, one night, he drives her to Half Moon Bay and accuses her of cheating. She laughs at Mark’s statement and he severely beats her, leaving her unconscious. He drives into the African American neighborhood, showing Angelou to bystanders. A woman recognizes her and calls Vivian. However, no one can identify Mark.

Angelou wakes up in Mark’s room. He cries, saying he loves her. He leaves to buy juice, and she prays. Later, Angelou hears her mother’s voice yelling at the landlady to break the door. Vivian enters and faints as she sees her daughter. When she comes to, she tells Angelou that Mark was falsely arrested for theft. Angelou feels her prayers saved her and recovers in Vivian’s home. Vivian gives her a gun and tells her to kill Mark. Angelou waits for Mark outside a hotel and threatens him with the gun but cannot shoot him; he runs away. Vivian tells her that she inherited her kindness from her grandmother.

Angelou still struggles financially while working all day. Vivian wants to give her money, not as a loan but as an “investment” for her future. She says Angelou must find a job with a better salary to repay her. Angelou quits her two jobs and spends more time with her son. She applies for a job at a record shop she frequents and tells her friends that Vivian is “a good mother” (94).

Angelou enjoys her new job, knowing all about jazz, bebop, and blues. She quickly gets a raise and starts repaying her mother. At the record shop, she meets a customer, Tosh Angelos, a white man of Greek descent who is in the Navy. Angelou states he that “[takes] [her] breath away” (97). On his third visit to the shop, Tosh sees her with Guy. Weeks later, he asks her out to dinner, and the three start spending time together.

Later, Tosh proposes to Angelou. She informs Vivian, who becomes furious that her daughter is considering marrying a white man, who is also struggling. She wants him to love and protect her and be a father to her son. Vivian asks Angelou if she loves him, but she does not answer. She wishes her daughter luck, and a week later, she moves from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Angelou invites Bailey to her new house, and he tells her that Vivian is heartbroken. However, he supports her and will accept Tosh as his own brother.

Angelou marries Tosh, and they move in together. She enjoys being a housewife but misses her mother. She calls her, and Vivian says she loves her and hopes for her happiness, even though she doubts it. Tosh proves jealous of men who flirt with Angelou and asks her to quit her job at the record shop. She finds work as a clerk at an insurance company and takes dance classes twice a month. Tosh and Guy form a good relationship, and Baily and his partner visit the family often. Angelou is satisfied, but marriage makes her miss both Vivian and God. As Tosh is an atheist, he criticizes her for her faith—but she continues going to church.

Bailey informs Angelou that Vivian returned to San Francisco and wishes to visit her. Angelou invites her for dinner. She is excited and forgets that her mother technically “abandoned [her] again” (105). Vivian arrives and asks her daughter to forgive her, promising she will never leave her again. Tosh welcomes her. At dinner, Vivian declares that “[ignorance] is a terrible thing” (106): She thought Angelou was making a mistake by marrying Tosh but sees she and Guy are happy. She apologizes to Tosh, saying she admires his love for her daughter.

Angelou studied dance as a teenager, saving money to attend classes as often as possible. During the first months of her marriage, she stopped attending classes, but she soon starts again. Tosh thinks she spends too much time away from the household, but she says “dancing [liberates her]” (109). He becomes resentful and accuses her of not being a “proper housewife” (110).

Vivian visits Angelou and says she is having trouble with her business. Before leaving, she tells Angelou that she knows Tosh does not like her but respects his being good to Angelou and Guy. Eventually, Angelou’s daily routine consists of work and being at home, as she stopped her dance classes and visits to the record shop. She finds no pleasure in her new job. One day, Vivian invites the family for drinks at the beach. There, she asks why Angelou is unhappy. Angelou says she lacks dancing, friends, and faith. Vivian encourages both being on her husband’s side and thinking of her own situation.

Vivian invites the family for dinner, but Tosh refuses to attend. Angelou realizes her marriage is failing. She explains to Tosh that she misses dancing, friends, and her faith, and he is understanding. She leaves Tosh, and Guy is devastated over their separation, blaming her for being without a father again. While Bailey doesn’t understand why Angelou left her marriage, Vivian reassures her, as Angelou could not allow Tosh to “take the sense of [her] person away” (120). Angelou restarts dance classes, resumes old friendships, and searches for a new job.