Previous
Chapter 3
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
On Saturday night, Maverick finally reaches Iesha on the phone. She says she needs a break—she cries all the time and is in a “dark place.” Maverick remembers that according to Ma, Keisha had postpartum depression after Adreanna was born. Iesha sounds like she’s going through the same thing. She insists that she doesn’t need a doctor and when Maverick asks how long of a break she needs, Iesha hangs up. When Maverick tells Ma, she says that they should plan on having Li’l Man for a while, and they might need to call Cousin Gary. Gary, who's an extended family member, is a lawyer who lives in the suburbs and looks down on the rest of the family who still live in the city.
Maverick is doing his best to be compassionate here. It sounds like Iesha is having a genuinely hard time, and he doesn’t want to pressure her or make her feel even worse than she already does. But because Iesha won’t communicate openly with Maverick, Maverick has no idea how long he’s going to be a single dad to Li’l Man. When Iesha hangs up, Maverick’s early plans to “help out” go out the window—now, it seems like all of the caregiving has become his responsibility.
Themes
Maverick tells himself all weekend that Iesha just needs a break. He hopes he’s right, because taking care of Li’l Man overnight is hell. He’s exhausted after two days. Now that it’s Monday, Ma is going to work and leaving Maverick home alone with Li’l Man. Maverick is terrified. Ma puts her shopping list together for Maverick and reminds him to get Cajun spice so that her friend Moe can make them fish. She reminds him that Mrs. Wyatt next door or Granny will always help out, but Maverick insists that he’s a man and doesn’t need help. Ma kisses him and leaves.
As Ma prepares to leave, she makes it clear that Maverick has a lot of people around to help him, if he’s willing to ask for it. She wants him to know that he’s the primary caregiver for Li’l Man, but he’s not alone. But to Maverick, being a man means facing his responsibilities on his own. He seems to think that asking for help would mean admitting weakness and inexperience.
Themes
Maverick checks on Li’l Man, who’s fast asleep in his crib. The crib is in Maverick’s bedroom, which means he had to move his CD collection and stereo onto the kitchen table. Maverick pages King so he can make sure King is feeling okay about the DNA test results. Then, he settles in for a nap. The phone rings just as Maverick starts to fall asleep. It’s a call from Pops in prison, which is unusual—he never calls in the mornings. He asks about Ma, and when Maverick tells Pops that Moe convinced her to take weekends off, Pop says Moe’s name in a weird tone. Pops has never met Moe; she and Ma became friends after Pops went to prison.
Though Maverick has only had Li’l Man for a weekend, his life has already turned upside-down. Having to move his CDs and stereo to the kitchen is symbolic: it represents a shift from his carefree adolescence to his new reality of fatherhood. Taking care of Li’l Man, rather than listening to music and relaxing, has to be his priority now. Getting the unusual call from Pops shows Maverick that Ma was right: he has lots of people to who care about him, if only he’s willing to reach out. The way that Pop responds to hearing about Moe suggests that there’s a point of conflict in his and Moe’s relationship, though the novel won’t revisit this until much later.
Themes
Pops asks how Maverick is. Last time they talked, Maverick assured him Li’l Man wasn’t his—but now, he tells Pops that he’s been taking care of his son. Pops is silent and then asks Maverick how he’s doing. Maverick says it’s a lot; he feels “ready to crack” after a weekend. Pops tells him he’ll be okay and asks what the baby’s name is. He insists King Jr. needs a new name that’s more meaningful. Maverick’s name, for instance, means “independent thinker,” and his middle name is Malcolm after Malcolm X. Pops says that Li’l Man needs a name that’ll tell him “who he is and who he can be.” Maverick agrees. Before long, Pops’s phone time is up.
Pops seems to take a similar view to Ma when it comes to facing challenges like Maverick having a baby. Notably, Pops asks how Maverick is doing, rather than how Li’l Man is doing, an indicator that Pops understands how difficult it can be to parent an infant. When Pops talks about why Maverick needs to rename King Jr., it shows that to Pops, at least, names have significance—it’s important for a person to know “who he is and who he can be.” In Maverick’s case, Pops seemingly wanted him to know that he’s an “independent thinker” who’s strong, capable, and part of a long line of other strong people (like Malcolm X).
Themes
Get the entire Concrete Rose LitChart as a printable PDF.
The doorbell rings—it’s King. King plops down on the couch to play video games and tells Maverick that he’s already heard about Iesha. He’s not upset about King Jr. and gets annoyed when Maverick apologizes for how the DNA test turned out. Maverick drops the subject and says he needs to talk to King about something else, but then Li’l Man starts crying. Maverick rushes to him and decides he needs a bottle. Li’l Man is so upset that Maverick can barely get the bottle in his mouth. Maverick sits down with Li’l Man next to King and explains that Iesha needed a break. King says that he used to help Iesha out with the baby; Maverick has to feed Li’l Man immediately when he wakes up, or he’ll freak out.
Though King says he’s not at all bothered about the DNA test results, it’s clear that King has spent a fair bit of time with Li’l Man, believing the baby was his son. Maverick seems to recognize that this could be a very emotional time for King, and he wants to be an understanding friend. But when King brushes Maverick off and insists it’s no big deal, it opens up the possibility that King isn’t willing to acknowledge his negative emotions. He, like Maverick, may associate manhood with hiding his feelings and dealing with things all on his own.
Themes
The boys sit in silence, and then King says that Li’l Man looks like Maverick. Maverick apologizes again when he sees the look in King’s eyes. But King asks what Maverick needed to talk about. Maverick clears his throat and says he needs to give up dealing, since Dre figured out what they’re up to. He explains that Dre is making him stop selling in exchange for not ratting King out to Shawn. King is disappointed that Maverick backed down, but Maverick insists that he was just looking out for King. He says that Dre threatened to tell Ma and Pops, and he suggests that King stop dealing, too. King refuses.
Here, the look that Maverick notices in King’s eye further suggests that King is struggling emotionally with the fact that Li’l Man isn’t his son, but he just doesn’t want to talk about it. As he and Maverick move on to discuss their drug operation, King expects Maverick to behave a certain way—and to stand up for himself, not just back down from the “big homies.” But Maverick makes it clear that he has his parents to think about, and he doesn’t want to lose their approval.
Themes
Maverick insists that he has to do what Dre said. He hands Li’l Man to King and gets up to dig his drug stash out from under the bathroom cabinet. He hands over the drugs to King, and King hands Li’l Man back and leaves, insisting that everything is fine even if Maverick is being ridiculous.
King might insist everything is fine, but again, he seems to be upset with how everything is playing out. Not only is King Jr. not his baby—his friend is backing out of their operation for reasons that King doesn’t understand.
Themes
