Concrete Rose

Lisa begins Concrete Rose as Mav’s long-term girlfriend, but she dumps him after she finds out that he has a baby with Iesha. Lisa is a smart, beautiful overachiever who attends the private high school St. Mary’s. Although she lives in the Garden like Mav, Lisa is comparatively privileged. She has a nice house, and her family has never had to contend with the dangers of the streets. Lisa’s situation allows her more freedom than Mav to plan for a future beyond the Garden, and she knows that she wants to go to college and become a pediatrician. Sometimes their different circumstances prevent them from seeing eye-to-eye, like when Lisa cannot understand why it’s so hard for Mav to leave the King Lords. Still, Lisa is one of Mav’s biggest supporters over the course of the novel.

Lisa and Mav sleep together after Dre’s funeral, which leaves her pregnant. Lisa decides to keep the baby but is determined to keep her life on track. She refuses to give Mav another chance because she thinks that he has no plans for his life outside of the King Lords, but she accepts his support during her pregnancy. After Mav confesses about Red, Lisa is proud of him for choosing his family over revenge. She tells Mav that she still believes in him, and that she needs him to believe in himself. At the end of the book, she has accepted Mav back into her life and seems open to eventually getting together again.

Dre is Mav’s older cousin, but he’s more like a brother. Dre is a “big homie” in the King Lords, but he stopped hanging out with the gang after having a daughter, Andreanna, with his fiancée Keisha. Dre looks out for Mav and wants him to stay as clean as possible, especially after Mav learns that he’s also a father. Dre forces Mav to quit dealing with King. He hates that he has to sell drugs to support Andreanna and feels that he is not the father she deserves. He wants Mav to break the cycle and do better for his son.

During Mav’s initial struggle with parenthood, Dre is there to advise and help him. He reminds Mav that emotions like fear and sadness are normal, and that it’s okay to be overwhelmed as long as he continues to love and support his son.

Dre is tragically shot and killed in a robbery outside of Mav’s house. After his death, the love and care he showed Mav in life continue to guide Mav’s actions. Mav tries hard to stay on the straight and narrow to honor Dre. One of the biggest decisions he faces in the novel is whether to murder Dre’s killer, Red. His choice to spare Red honors Dre’s wish for Mav to prioritize his family over the streets. By the end of the book, Mav is actively working toward breaking the cycle of gang involvement, just as Dre hoped he would.

Mr. Wyatt is Mav’s next-door neighbor. He has been involved in Mav’s life since Mav was a kid and took care of him when Ma and Pops’s house was raided by the FBI. Mr. Wyatt cares deeply for Mav, although his expression of that care can come off as overbearing. When Mr. Wyatt discovers that Mav has a son, he offers Mav a part-time job. Mr. Wyatt continually pushes Mav to grow past his own expectations and become a better employee and person. He doesn’t tolerate activities he sees as unacceptable, like “gang drama,” and Mav racks up two strikes while working for him, one for arriving late and one for showing up high.

While Mr. Wyatt disciplines Mav’s mistakes, he also offers much-needed support. He encourages Mav to show his emotions, reminding him that Black men are allowed to feel and express sadness just like everyone else. Mr. Wyatt is one of the only people to ever ask Mav about his aspirations as an adult and helps him plan out a practical path toward realizing his goal of becoming an entrepreneur. Mr. Wyatt’s encouragement and belief are instrumental in Mav’s eventual decision to sign up for GED courses and take steps toward leaving the gang.

Pops is Mav’s father. A crown of the King Lords, he has been in prison since Mav was eight. Pops is charismatic, even-tempered, and well-respected in the Garden. He and Mav maintain a good relationship despite their physical distance and the fact that Mav feels like he lives in Pops’s shadow.

When he learns about Mav’s first baby, Pops reacts calmly. He gives Mav parenting advice and encourages him to change the baby’s name from King Jr., which has gang ties, to something that will show him his true potential in the world. When Lisa falls pregnant, however, Pops and Mav have a falling-out. Pops is angry at Mav for making a stupid decision, but Mav doesn’t think that Pops has any right to critique him after missing Mav’s whole childhood because of his own choices.

Mav and Pops don’t speak for several months, until Mav visits Pops again seeking his approval to kill Red. Their subsequent heart-to-heart reveals that Pops harbors regrets about his past and wishes that he had chosen to be there for Ma and Mav. Pops refuses to give Mav approval for his revenge plan, and he is greatly relieved when he learns that Mav was unable to kill Red. When Mav tells Pops that he’s thinking of leaving the King Lords, Pops is proud of his son for living up to his name and thinking independently. They end the book on good terms with one another.

Ma is Mav’s mother. She has taken care of him on her own since he was eight years old and works two jobs to pay the bills. Ma hates that Mav is in a gang but knows that he needs the protection the King Lords provide. She considers his affiliation temporary and wants him to eventually get out and attend college. Mav keeps Ma in the dark about many parts of his life, including the fact that he is dealing drugs on the side.

After the DNA test results come in, Ma pushes Mav to step up into his role as a new father but understands that he still needs moments to be a kid and have fun. She supports him as best she can by working extra hours and helping him take care of Seven. When Mav tells her that he has a second child on the way, Ma is distraught. She feels like she’s failed Mav as a parent. Her distress leads Mav to conceal the fact that he’s flunked out of 12th grade until the end of the book, as he does not want to cause her further grief.

Ma remains married to Pops while he is imprisoned, but eventually admits to Mav that she has been dating her close friend Moe for several years. Pops chose to do things that put his life on hold, and Ma refuses to stall her own life for him. This revelation comes as Mav is planning to kill Red, and it makes him consider the risk of hurting his family and putting his own life on hold with his actions.

King is Mav’s best friend and fellow King Lord. His father, Zeke, was Pops’s right-hand man, but both of his parents are dead by the start of the book. King is deeply involved with drug dealing and refuses to quit when Mav does.

Both Mav and King initially think that King is the father of Iesha’s baby, and the shattering of this perception puts a strain on their friendship. Their estrangement grows as Mav begins to live a “cleaner” lifestyle and the two of them become less and less able to support each other’s actions. Iesha is another point of contention between the pair. While Mav is desperately looking for her, King allows her to move in without telling Mav, which further damages their friendship.

When Mav needs more money to support Lisa’s pregnancy, King allows him to return to dealing. He is the only King Lord to listen to Mav’s suspicions that Red killed Dre, and he encourages Mav to kill Red in revenge, even getting him a gun to carry out the murder. Their friendship seems to be healing until Mav’s second exit from the drug game deals it a fatal blow. King threatens Mav, and Mav realizes that he can no longer trust his former best friend. They go their separate but parallel ways, each doing what they can to support their family units.

Seven (formerly called King Jr. and Li’l Man) is Maverick and Iesha’s son. At the start of the book, he is three months old. Iesha abandons him with Mav, who renames him Seven Maverick Carter to represent a more perfect version of his father. Seven is generally happy and calm, except when he is teething or needs a diaper change. He loves Mav and people like Lisa and Mrs. Wyatt but is wary of Iesha after his abandonment. His total trust in and reliance on Mav provides constant motivation for Mav to better his life.

Iesha is Seven’s mother. She and Mav slept together once while Mav and Lisa were broken up, leading to her pregnancy. She is in a bad place mentally after giving birth, which leads her to abandon Seven with Mav for most of the novel. Mav suspects that she suffers from postpartum depression.