Concrete Rose: Part 2–Epilogue

“Wait,” I say, straddling the ledge.

Never get two Black girls riled up.

Sometimes I wanna give up, man. Like that night I walked out on him and left him crying in my room. This stuff get real overwhelming.

“I said ‘coup,’ Rico. C-o-u-p. It mean a rebellion. That’s what Napoleon did in France back in the day.”

“Maverick, to the office now! Antwan, you can explain your abhorrent comments to me later in detention.”

“The name is irrelevant,” he says.

“Y’all better take y’all lazy behinds to the concession stand and buy your own stuff.”

He a quiet, nerdy, stocky dude with dreadlocks.

When the Lord said replenish the earth, he didn’t expect you to do it yourself.

Lisa scoff. “Yeah, that was real clear this morning.”

“Less than an hour later, I was called to the front office. One of the sisters and the chaplain waited for me.”

They went into this spiel, saying I must marry you so my baby isn’t born out of wedlock.

Dr. Byrd print out a sonogram picture for Lisa and one for me and write a prescription for prenatal vitamins.

Lisa too caught up in her sonogram to pay attention to where she going.

It kinda peeve me how life set up.

“An entrepreneur,” he says. “That’s doable. What kinda business do you have in mind?”

Well first, you need to get your high school diploma or a GED. I have the latter myself.

“What kinda establishment is this?” P-Nut pull out his wallet and slap two fifties on the counter. “I still want my change.”

I’m tryna feed him this jar of pureed peas and carrots with a li’l applesauce mixed in like Mrs. Wyatt taught me.

“I guess. It’s a li’l too ‘sophisticated’ for me.”

Dre just another “ghetto casualty” in their books.

Dre just another “ghetto casualty” in their books.

My stomach churning too much for me to eat.

These days it’s just dirt covered in trash. A lady in dingy clothes curled up in a corner of the porch.

“Then it’s a girl. Always listen to a woman’s intuition. Won’t ever lead you wrong.”

The adrenaline rush from earlier must’ve drained me.

“Go do what you need to do, son. I expect you to come straight to work afterward. Don’t be—”
“Lollygagging around,” I finish for him.

I took her to Reuben’s to buy her prize, and she told everybody in the restaurant that I lost our bet. As we walked to my house, she told every neighbor we passed. Gloating for no reason.

I hope she has your eyelashes. And my eyes. I like my eyes. Is that conceited?

“I’m gonna teach you how to plait. Take my ponytail down and comb any tangles out.”