Concrete Rose: Chapter 4 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.