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
At lunch the next day, Maverick is so caught up in thinking about his conversation with Iesha that he doesn’t notice anything else going on in the school cafeteria. Rico and Junie call Maverick to pay attention, but he can’t stop thinking about how overwhelmed he and Iesha feel. He doesn’t know what to do about anything—Iesha, Lisa, Dre, or Seven. Maverick looks across the cafeteria to where Ant sits, but he can’t tell Rico and Junie about Ant. They’ll tell everyone. Junie says that Maverick is probably thinking about Dre, and he and Rico acknowledge that death is hard to get over. Rico lost his twin to a stray bullet when they were nine, and Junie’s aunt was stabbed at a block party a few years ago.
Seven is Maverick’s whole world right now, so it makes sense that he’s so caught up in his conversation with Iesha. School, for him, isn’t as interesting as it once was. But for Rico and Junie, it’s hard to understand why Maverick wouldn’t be paying attention. They show that they’re good friends, though, when they do acknowledge that Maverick is probably still grieving for Dre. They recognize that all people experience grief—even them. However, they decide what Maverick is thinking about rather than asking him, which suggests that they’re not showing him as much compassion or interest as Maverick perhaps needs.
Themes
Rico reminds Maverick that tough people survive, making him laugh. Junie says that there’s a lot to catch up on: Cortez is back in jail, but not for what he and DeMario were doing. Maverick pretends to know what’s going on. Then, Junie says that King brought them on to sell. Maverick is surprised and asks why they didn’t tell him. Junie says that since Maverick isn’t around much, they figured this didn’t concern him. Maverick is hurt, but he asks if they’re worried about Shawn. Rico and Junie aren’t, and Rico rolls his eyes when Maverick says this sounds like a coup. He tells Maverick to do something better with his time than read books.
Again, Maverick has to confront the fact that, because he’s parenting Seven full-time, he hasn’t been around or as involved with his friends. He has no idea what’s going on with Cortez and DeMario—and it’s also worth noting that Junie and Rico don’t seem to have any intention of clueing Maverick in. Through this, they propose that if Maverick isn’t going to put in the time to figure things out for himself, he's not going to ever know what’s going on.
Themes
The bell rings. Maverick dumps his tray and watches Ant do the same. Then, he follows Ant to world literature. Mrs. Turner catches Maverick on his way into the classroom and asks how he is. Then, she tells him that Mr. Clayton wants to talk and gives Maverick a hall pass. Ant calls Maverick “weak ass” and says it was only a matter of time before Dre was killed. Mrs. Turner grabs Maverick before he can retaliate and gives Ant detention. She nudges Maverick into the hallway. Maverick has no desire to go talk to the counselor, so he decides to skip school.
Ant is trying to get on Maverick’s nerves here by calling him “weak ass” and speaking so rudely about Dre’s death. This shows that even at school, gang rivalry is alive and well. However, the fact that the counselor wants to talk to Maverick shows that the school wants to support its students through difficult periods. If Maverick were willing to accept the help, he might find more people who could help him process his emotions.
Themes
As Maverick walks through the cold wind, Shawn’s car pulls up beside him. Shawn says they need to talk, man-to-man. Maverick climbs into the passenger seat. After complimenting Maverick’s clothes, Shawn says he isn’t treating Maverick like a kid—he’s treating him like a brother. He’ll forever be the little kid they ditched at the mall. Maverick sighs at the memory; he’d wanted to play at the arcade while Dre and Shawn wanted to pick up girls, so they gave him money for a milkshake and were gone when he returned to the table. Shawn says that after that, Dre insisted that if Maverick couldn’t go, he couldn’t go either. Maverick pinches the bridge of his nose.
Unlike the counselor, Shawn is a trustworthy figure who can help Maverick figure things out. And Shawn makes it clear that while he does think of Maverick as a younger brother in need of protection, that’s not the same thing as treating Maverick like a kid. By bringing up Dre, Shawn also makes it clear that it’s not just him who thinks this way—he’s trying to do what Dre would’ve wanted him to do and take care of Maverick.
Themes
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Shawn says the point is that he sees Maverick as a little brother. Dre wouldn’t want Maverick to murder someone for him if he didn’t even really want Maverick selling cannabis. Instead, Dre wanted Maverick to care for his family. Shawn also says that killing is easy—but living with yourself afterwards is hard, if you live at all. He asks Maverick if he really wants Ma to have to bury him, and Maverick says no. Shawn insists that he needs to take care of this one. He tells Maverick not to worry about how the other guys in the gang think he’s soft, and to live for himself and for Dre. He needs to be the best dad he can be.
Shawn proposes here that the best way for Maverick to honor Dre is by living his life and being the kind of dad that Dre never got the opportunity to be. With this, Shawn implies that he knew Dre was unhappy in the gang and may have wanted to quit to focus his attentions on fatherhood. But while it’s impossible to go back and change things for Dre, Shawn knows that he can encourage Maverick to focus on his family and to honor Dre through that.
Themes
Shawn then asks Maverick why he’s not in school and how King, Junie, and Rico are doing. He says he’s looking for Red right now; Red promised him a big-screen TV but has been missing for a week. Maverick tells Shawn about the fake Jordans as Shawn opens his glove box: it contains Shawn’s gun and a rolled blunt. Shawn smokes as he drives and then passes the blunt to Maverick. Maverick doesn’t really like cannabis, but he reasons that it’ll take away the pain for a bit.
Opening up the glove box to reveal the gun as Maverick and Shawn talk about Red’s shady deals is threatening. It suggests that Shawn might take it upon himself to deal with Red violently if Red doesn’t comply with his requests. Maverick’s choice to smoke here shows just how emotional he is about Dre: he’s so upset that he’ll turn to a substance he doesn’t even like, just to escape his emotions.
Themes
Time goes slowly and then speeds up. Everything seems funny, though Maverick tells himself he’s not that high. Shawn drops Maverick off at Mr. Wyatt’s house. Mr. Wyatt left a list for Maverick with Mrs. Wyatt since he won’t be home until later, so Maverick climbs the steps to the front door. There are too many steps. Mrs. Wyatt answers the door with Seven, gives Maverick a funny look, and sends him into the yard. Mr. Wyatt is already there. He explains that he left Jamal at the store so he could “spend time with [his] bride.” Maverick hopes Seven wasn’t exposed to “old person sex”—and then he realizes that he said that out loud.
It seems as though Maverick may have lost track of time, since the narration implies that Maverick is actually late for work. Another effect of the cannabis is that Maverick isn’t able to filter his thoughts and only say polite, appropriate things—which will certainly go over poorly with Mr. Wyatt. The cannabis may make Maverick feel less upset about Dre, but it’s not helping him get through the rest of his life.
Themes
Mr. Wyatt’s lips go thin, and he asks if Maverick has been smoking “reefer.” Maverick guffaws and says that no one calls it that, but Mr. Wyatt says this is strike number two. He hands Maverick a hoe and tells him to get to work. Three hours later, Maverick suspects that Mr. Wyatt is going to kill him. He’s had to carry heavy things, pull weeds, and hoe. As Mr. Wyatt sits on a bench, sipping lemonade, Maverick begs for a break and some water. Mr. Wyatt insists that’s just the reefer talking; Maverick doesn’t really need water. He also insists that Maverick must’ve felt like he needed the reefer if he came to work high.
Mr. Wyatt’s insistence on using the word “reefer,” a dated term for cannabis, makes him sound critical and out of touch with Maverick’s generation—and it also shows Maverick that Mr. Wyatt isn’t going to be sympathetic at all. He’s going to stay stuck in his thinking, and he’s not going to let Maverick get away with coming to work high. Though Maverick resents this, Mr. Wyatt is teaching Maverick professional norms—norms that Maverick will need to know if he’s going to be a boss one day, like Mr. Wyatt.
Themes
Maverick snaps that he just wanted to stop thinking about Dre. Mr. Wyatt calls Maverick to come sit, and he asks if Maverick really thought drugs were the best way to stop thinking about Dre. Cannabis isn’t as bad as other drugs, but it’s still illegal—and Maverick is only 17. Maverick reiterates that he just needed to stop thinking about Dre, and Mr. Wyatt asks why. Maverick explains he saw Dre dead, and that he can’t think about it. Again, Mr. Wyatt asks why. Maverick insists that he can’t sit and cry; he has to be a man.
When Maverick finally reveals why he chose to smoke, Mr. Wyatt shows him some compassion. He reminds Maverick that smoking cannabis is dangerous mostly because Maverick could get arrested for it. Further, Mr. Wyatt suggests that substances aren’t an appropriate way to deal with difficult emotions. Constantly asking Maverick why he thinks the way he does is a way for Mr. Wyatt to pry into Maverick’s reasoning and force Maverick to confront his uncomfortable emotions in a way that Maverick’s fellow gang members don’t encourage.
Themes
After a long silence, Mr. Wyatt sighs that it’s a huge lie that Black men don’t have feelings. Black men have the right to show their emotions, just like everyone else. Maverick stares at the ground, his legs shaking. Mr. Wyatt grabs the back of Maverick’s neck and tells him to let it out, and Maverick starts to sob. Mr. Wyatt hugs him and says it’ll be okay, but Maverick knows it won’t. After all, Dre is dead.
Here, Mr. Wyatt teaches Maverick that the societal pressure to suppress one’s emotional is harmful—particularly for Black men, who Mr. Wyatt implies are most often pressured to be stoic. It not only causes them to turn to substances or violence to deal with those emotions—it gives other people a reason to dehumanize them.
Themes
