Free The Man in 3B by Carl Weber

lookout after you disable the alarm system,” Leroy explained simply.
    Knowing I was somewhat of an electronics whiz, Leroy and his boys had approached me a few months back about this alarm system they were supposedly buying. They said they were going to open a bodega and wanted to see if it was a reliable alarm system. They had the model number and the whole nine. Stupid, naive me looked at it as a challenge to see if I could disarm it. It turned out to be a simple system. I told him he shouldn’t buy one because a guy like me could disarm it in a heartbeat. Stupidest thing I’d ever said.
    That’s when Leroy told me about his real plan. They were going to rob Goldberg Jewelers, the biggest jewelry store in Queens, and I was going to disarm the alarm system for him.
    “Nah, man, I’m sorry, but I can’t be a part—” Before I could finish my sentence, I felt the full force of Muscles’s huge fist in my gut. I doubled over and struggled to catch my breath. I’d had my share of school yard scrapes, but I’d never been hit that hard in my entire life.
    “Dammmmn, that shit hurt, didn’t it? I know that shit hurt,” Leroy mocked, grabbing his stomach. “Now, if you don’t get your ass in the car, I’m gonna have my man Muscles do more than that to your face.”
    “I bet you don’t.”
    I’d like to say that I’d found the courage to speak those words, but they didn’t come from me. They had come from behind me.
    Muscles and Leroy turned toward the voice. “Oh yeah, and who the hell are you, his daddy?”
    “As a matter of fact, I am,” Pop responded as he made his way out of the apartment building and onto the stoop. All he needed was some theme music, and he would have looked like Shaft in a wife beater and jeans. “And now that you know who I am, who the hell are you?”
    “We’re a couple of your son’s buddies from high school. Isn’t that right, Benny?”
    “Buddies? I don’t think so. I know all my son’s friends,” my fathersaid, “and trust me; you’re no friend of Benny’s. Now get the hell away from my kid!”
    “Sounds like you calling me a liar, old man, and I hate being called a liar.” Leroy took a few steps toward Pop as I felt Muscles grab the back of my neck, jerking me straight up.
    Pop stood his ground. “I don’t care what you like. I want you to get the hell away from my son and get the hell outta here.”
    “You hear that, Muscles? College boy’s daddy wants us to leave,” Leroy said with a smirk. “I guess we better go then.”
    Muscles let go of my neck, and for a split second, I thought they were actually going to leave.
    “You okay, son? I was looking—” Pop never finished his sentence because he was damn near knocked off his feet by a haymaker.
    “Pop!” I tried to run to his aid, but Muscles slammed me down on the concrete. He kicked me in the ribs a few times to make sure I stayed put and then went to help Leroy stomp the shit out of my father.
    I was struggling to get up, praying they weren’t going to kill my father, when out of nowhere, Daryl appeared on the scene. He spun Muscles around and punched his privates like they were a speed bag. Muscles doubled over, and Daryl planted a foot in his face so hard that Muscles fell right to the ground. It was like watching a superhero take out the villain in one of those comic books turned into a movie.
    Once Daryl finished with Muscles, he turned his attention to Leroy. He pulled the Thug Master off my father and slammed him to the sidewalk so hard that he had to have seen stars. Down but not totally out, a bloodied Muscles came charging at Daryl like a bull; but just like a matador, Daryl managed to move quickly to the side and get the raging bull in a headlock.
    “If you don’t get out of here and take your friend with you, I’m gonna break your fucking neck,” Daryl seethed through gritted teeth.
    Muscles wasn’t about to give up that easily. From his bent-over position, he was able to get some