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Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Concrete Rose, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Masculinity and Fatherhood
Identity and Individuality
Loyalty, Gang Affiliation, and Family
Poverty
Summary
Analysis
Maverick and Lisa are in bed, sweaty and panting. Lisa says she missed Maverick. It feels like there’s no one else in the world but them, until they hear Ms. Montgomery pull into the drive. Lisa and Maverick dress quickly, and then Lisa shoves Maverick out her window and doesn’t answer when he asks to see her later. The next day, Maverick still doesn’t know what happened. He thought they were speaking again, but Lisa still has his number blocked. He almost calls Dre before he remembers that Dre is dead.
Lisa’s behavior is very confusing for Maverick. He desperately wants them to get back together, so it’s hurtful that, after having sex, she’s gone back to ignoring him. To make matters worse, he feels alone and unable to talk to anyone about his feelings. Dre was probably the only person who would’ve understood—but now, Dre is gone.
Themes
Maverick offered to take the Sunday shift for Mr. Wyatt since Jamal is off. He needs the money and the distraction, so he leaves Seven with Ma and heads for the store. There, he starts to work through Mr. Wyatt’s long list of tasks. As Maverick works, Mr. Wyatt stands outside with Mr. Lewis and Mr. Reuben. Maverick thinks that bosses get to pay other people to work while they chat, and he realizes that he wants to be like them. When the phone rings, he hurries back to the office to answer it. But then, it occurs to him: Lisa probably hasn’t blocked the store’s number.
Maverick is undergoing several important changes here: first, he’s starting to think of work as something enjoyable as well as necessary. He’s also starting to think that having a job like Mr. Wyatt’s wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Lewis, and Mr. Reuben, Maverick realizes, lead lives similar to the “big homies” in the King Lords, in that they have a certain level of autonomy and authority of others. But, unlike gangsters, they’re not in danger of dying or getting arrested because of their line of work.
Themes
Maverick dials Lisa’s house phone, but Ms. Montgomery picks up. He respectfully asks to talk to Lisa, but she hangs up on him. The bell rings up front, so Maverick puts the phone down and returns to mopping. Mr. Lewis gripes that Maverick is a lousy employee, but Mr. Wyatt notes that he didn’t ask for Mr. Lewis’s opinion. When Mr. Lewis continues to insult Maverick, Maverick asks if Mr. Wyatt would like him to sweep the curb. Mr. Wyatt sends Maverick outside, seeming to hold back a smile.
Maverick is also getting better at controlling his temper and his reactions. He knows that he can’t outright insult Mr. Lewis—that would make him look bad in front of his employer. Here, then, Maverick realizes that many of the same rules that guide gangsters’ behavior applies elsewhere. Just as gangsters had to laugh at Shawn’s jokes in the first chapter because Shawn is the “crown,” here, Maverick has to respect Mr. Wyatt’s wishes because he’s the boss.
Themes
It’s quiet outside until two girls come out of Reuben’s: Lala and Iesha. Maverick runs across the street and grabs Iesha. She clearly doesn’t want to talk, but she tells Lala to go on ahead and asks how her baby is. Maverick wants to know where she’s been. Iesha explains that she’s been with friends, and being homeless isn’t good for a baby. Maverick takes in her fresh nails and new clothes. He remembers Ma saying that poverty can look like a lot of different things, so he asks why she hasn’t visited Seven. Iesha is aghast that Maverick is calling the baby Seven, so again, he has to explain the significance. Iesha looks down and says that Seven is too perfect for her, and she runs away.
Remembering Ma’s saying about how poverty doesn’t always look the same helps Maverick develop empathy. If he wants to have a constructive conversation with Iesha, he needs to take her at her word that she’s homeless and struggling. But it’s still incomprehensible to him that Iesha doesn’t seem to want to have anything to do with her son. This suggests that she’s still struggling emotionally after having to parent Seven all by herself, showing the consequences of not having enough support.
Themes
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