What has shaken Bailey into silence? What does this reveal about his relationship with his mother?

Baily misses his mother. Maya is worried, since Bailey is sad and ignores her; she has no idea what could be wrong, and is concerned that it might be something serious. Bailey gets home and gets a whipping from Uncle Willie; Maya is still scared for him, since he doesn't even respond to the punishment. A few days later, Bailey suddenly tells her that he saw their mother; there is an actress named Kay Francis in some of the movies he has seen, who looks almost exactly like their mother. She goes with Bailey to all the movies that Kay Francis is in, and thinks that it is nice that she can see "their mother" onscreen so often. Still, Bailey is unhappy, and scares Maya by running in front of a train; although Maya is content just to watch the films of their mother's lookalike, that is clearly not enough for Bailey, who really misses his mother.