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Chapter 1
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
The waiting room of the free clinic is busy on a Friday afternoon. As Maverick watches teenagers chase toddlers around, he explains that King sees a girl, Iesha, but they’re not really together. About a year ago, when Maverick and Lisa were temporarily broken up, King suggested Maverick take his mind off things by having sex with Iesha. The condom broke—and now, Maverick is waiting for the DNA results on Iesha’s three-month-old son. Ma is certain the baby is Maverick’s, since they look alike, but Maverick isn’t convinced.
The fact that Maverick and Ma are at the free clinic speaks to the economic standing of most of the clinic’s patients. This is, perhaps, the only place they can afford to receive medical care. The background about how this baby was conceived explains what Maverick’s big mistake was in his relationship with Lisa. And if this baby is indeed his, this could ruin his relationship with Lisa entirely.
Themes
Maverick’s pager goes off: it’s their neighbor, Mr. Wyatt, probably wanting Maverick to cut his grass. Ma thinks that Maverick makes all his money this way, but he makes way more selling drugs. Finally, Iesha’s arrives at the clinic with her mother, Ms. Robinson, and King Jr. Ma snaps at Maverick to give Iesha his seat and coos at King Jr. Iesha sighs that the baby kept her up all night, and Ms. Robinson quips that Iesha should be able to do better. Maverick notices how tired Iesha looks and asks who’s helping her. Ms. Robinson snaps that she’s not going to help—if Iesha wants to act like an adult, she can deal with the consequences. Maverick assures Iesha that if the baby is his, he'll help.
Maverick seems to desperately want Ma to believe that he’s making money honestly. This is, presumably, why he continues to mow lawns at all—it gives him a convenient cover for his drug-dealing. Meanwhile, the way that Ms. Robinson talks to and about Iesha contrasts greatly with how Ma speaks to Maverick. While Ma makes sure Maverick knows she’s here for him, Ms. Robinson believes that Iesha is on her own since having a baby. Not all of Maverick’s friends and peers have the same kind of unconditional support he does.
Themes
Smirking, Iesha asks how Lisa will feel about that. She insists that Lisa will break up with Maverick if the baby is his, since Lisa is a “bougie Catholic-school girl.” Iesha insists that the baby is King’s—and once they know for sure, she, King, and King Jr. will be a real family. The nurse calls for Iesha, and Iesha returns a moment later with an envelope. She hands it to Ms. Robinson, who opens it and then smugly tells Maverick that he’s the dad. Iesha looks distraught and snaps that she doesn’t want to deal with Maverick. Maverick retorts that he doesn’t want to deal with her either. King Jr. starts to fuss, and Ma picks him up. He needs a diaper change, so Ma grabs the diaper bag and tells Maverick to follow her. He needs to learn how to change his son’s diaper.
Lisa is college-bound and goes to a private school, which suggests that her family is financially well-off. In this way, she seems to represent an entirely different way of life than Iesha and many of Maverick’s other friends. Given Lisa’s trajectory, Iesha implies, Lisa will never stay with Maverick if she learns that Maverick has a baby with someone else. The revelation that King Jr. is indeed Maverick’s son turns both Iesha and Maverick’s lives upside down. Now, they have to accept the lifelong consequences of having sex once—they have to deal with each other, in some form, as long as they’re parenting King Jr.
Themes
Maverick balks at the door of the women’s restroom, but Ma snaps that he has to get over his embarrassment until they start putting changing tables in men’s restrooms. Ma gives Maverick King Jr. and digs through the diaper bag. She notes that there are a lot of clothes, lays out the pad, and tells Maverick to put King Jr. down. Looking at the baby’s face, Maverick is suddenly overcome with fear, but he knows King Jr. needs him. Ma touches Maverick’s shoulder, says it’ll be okay, and walks him through changing a diaper. But when Ma and Maverick return to the waiting room, Iesha and Ms. Robinson are gone—they left the car seat with the test results.
The fact that there aren’t changing tables in the men’s restroom shows that, as a dad, Maverick is going to have to face different challenges than a mother might. The world isn’t set up to help him be a good dad—he doesn’t even have a public space to change his baby. Regardless, Maverick already understands that King Jr. is at least half his responsibility. And taking on that responsibility doesn’t seem quite so daunting with Ma’s support—until, of course, he finds that he and Ma are on their own with the baby.
Themes
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