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Lisa Montgomery
King is Maverick’s best friend. His father was Pops’ right-hand man, and so Maverick and King have grown up together. But though they have a lot in common as the sons of prominent gangsters, King has grown up very differently from Maverick. King’s parents died about the same time that Pops went to prison, so he spent a decade in the foster system before aging out of it. And the year before the novel begins, King is expelled from school for beating up the racist football coach; in the present, he’s not in school and therefore isn’t going to graduate. When the novel begins, things between King and Maverick are tense. Though King suggested Maverick sleep with his girlfriend, Iesha, when Maverick was temporarily broken up with his girlfriend Lisa, King seems very upset when a DNA test reveals that the resulting baby is Maverick’s, not his. He also feels betrayed when Maverick insists he can’t deal with King anymore behind the King Lords’ backs. To King, this is silly—appearing loyal to the gang is important to him, but he thinks it’s more important to make money and be able to support himself. The rift between King and Maverick grows as Maverick dedicates himself to caring for Seven and working for Mr. Wyatt, though King gladly allows Maverick to start dealing with him again when money gets tight. And when Maverick learns that Red murdered Dre, King is the only one to take him seriously—and help him make a plan to kill Red. As King sees it, P-Nut (the crown, or leader, of the King Lords at the time) is ruining the operation, and he has plans to take over the gang with Maverick’s help. It’s a major blow when Maverick decides again that he wants out of the dealing operation. At this point, King responds in a way that frightens Maverick—Maverick recognizes that King is no longer the best friend he can trust with anything and, instead, King might do anything to punish Maverick for this betrayal. At the end of the novel, King is expecting a baby with Iesha.
King Quotes in Concrete Rose
The Concrete Rose quotes below are all either spoken by King or refer to King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
One of them yell out, “Don’t let them punk you, Li’l Don and Li’l Zeke!”
It don’t matter that my pops been locked up for nine years or that King’s pops been dead almost as long. They still Big Don, the former crown, and Big Zeke, his right-had man. That make me Li’l Don and King Li’l Zeke. Guess we not old enough to go by our own names yet.
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Chapter 23
Quotes
“Do you love Pops?”
“I do,” she says. “I’ll always love Adonis, and I’ll always be there for him. I also have to love myself. All of that ‘ride or die’ stuff, it’s nice until you feel like you’re dying from not living. Adonis made choices that put his life at a standstill. He didn’t have to sell drugs; he chose to. I shouldn’t have to put my life on hold because of his decisions.”
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Chapter 30
Quotes
“Looks like you’re right. These canes need to be snipped.”
“Because they won’t help them grow, right?”
“Mmm-hmm. It’s kind like how we have to do with ourselves. Get rid of things that don’t do us any good. If it won’t help the rose grow, you’ve gotta let it go.”
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Get the entire Concrete Rose LitChart as a printable PDF.
King Quotes in Concrete Rose
The Concrete Rose quotes below are all either spoken by King or refer to King. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
One of them yell out, “Don’t let them punk you, Li’l Don and Li’l Zeke!”
It don’t matter that my pops been locked up for nine years or that King’s pops been dead almost as long. They still Big Don, the former crown, and Big Zeke, his right-had man. That make me Li’l Don and King Li’l Zeke. Guess we not old enough to go by our own names yet.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23
Quotes
“Do you love Pops?”
“I do,” she says. “I’ll always love Adonis, and I’ll always be there for him. I also have to love myself. All of that ‘ride or die’ stuff, it’s nice until you feel like you’re dying from not living. Adonis made choices that put his life at a standstill. He didn’t have to sell drugs; he chose to. I shouldn’t have to put my life on hold because of his decisions.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30
Quotes
“Looks like you’re right. These canes need to be snipped.”
“Because they won’t help them grow, right?”
“Mmm-hmm. It’s kind like how we have to do with ourselves. Get rid of things that don’t do us any good. If it won’t help the rose grow, you’ve gotta let it go.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
