Man Up or Miss Out
One night. One choice. One chance to get it right.
Seventeen-year-old Jamal King thought he was just helping his best friend Marcus make some quick cash. Easy in, easy out. Nobody was supposed to get hurt. But when a simple robbery goes catastrophically wrong, Marcus ends up fighting for his life in the ICU, and Jamal is left holding secrets that could either save him—or destroy everything he's ever known.
Facing charges that could land him in adult prison, Jamal takes a deal that feels like the ultimate humiliation: community service as a janitor at his own high school. Mopping floors, cleaning bathrooms, and dodging the whispers of classmates who once respected him. It's supposed to be punishment, but Jamal doesn't know he's about to meet the one man who could change his life forever.
Mr. Anthony Moses isn't your typical janitor.
Quiet, observant, and carrying scars that tell stories he's never shared, Moses sees something in Jamal that even Jamal can't see. But when Jamal discovers that his mentor's past is connected to the very streets that are hunting him, everything he thought he knew about loyalty, manhood, and survival gets turned upside down.
Because Moses has a secret: he used to run the crew that's now coming for Jamal's life.
As the mentor and student navigate the dangerous territory between redemption and revenge, Jamal must make the hardest choice of his young life. Trust the man who's teaching him what it really means to be strong, or listen to the streets that are calling him back with promises of quick justice and deadly consequences.
The clock is ticking. Enemies are closing in. And the game ain't waiting.
In a heart-stopping confrontation that will test everything Moses has taught him, Jamal learns that sometimes the people who can save you are the ones who know exactly what it feels like to be lost. But salvation comes with a price—and not everyone who enters the battle will make it out alive.
From Dr. Delisa comes a gripping urban thriller that explores:
- The thin line between loyalty and self-destruction
- How broken people can heal other broken people
- What it really means to "man up" in a world that confuses strength with violence
- The power of mentorship to break generational cycles
- The truth that your worst mistakes don't have to define your destiny