Concrete Rose

Mav sits in the cemetery with his back to Dre’s headstone, relating the latest news from the Garden. Shawn’s gun has been linked to a murder, so he may be in jail for a long time. P-Nut is the new leader of the King Lords, and Mav, Junie, and Rico are now running a side drug business. Despite their shared work, he feels extremely distant from his friends due to their different priorities. He hasn’t talked to Pops since their fight at the prison, but claims that he doesn’t need a father because he is one himself. Lisa still refuses to give Mav another chance, but he hopes her mind will be changed by the Valentine’s Day surprise he has planned: a tour of her first-choice college, Markham State.

Mav leaves the cemetery to go meet Lisa after school and ride the bus to Ms. Rosalie’s with her. At St. Mary’s, Mav lingers at the end of the block. It looks like he’s just waiting for Lisa, but he’s actually dealing to the rich private-school kids. It irks him that they will casually drop hundreds of dollars on drugs, never considering how important that amount of money is to him.