Pressure shook his head. “Nah. Somethin’ ain’t addin’ up. This too damn fast and too extreme.”
There was a long pause, and we could tell the lawyer ain’t even wanna say what came next.
“The boys Kay’Lo shot were the sons of Minister of Justice Roderick Lennox. He is the attorney general of Trill-Land.”
It felt like the room flipped upside down. My ears rang and I couldn’t even blink.
Pluto whispered, “Oh my God…”
Renza stopped pacin’ and stared at the phone.
Pressure’s face went blank for a long moment before he muttered, “You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.”
The lawyer rushed on. “This is not a normal case. This is not something money alone is going to fix. Lennox is extremely powerful, and he’s already pushing for the highest sentence possible. He wants this case to be an example, so I need you all to understand that this is not going to be quick or easy. This is going to be a fight.”
Pressure pressed his hand against the counter like he needed support to keep standin’. “A’ight. We’ll handle it. Call me when you get an update.”
He hung up the phone and the silence that hit was so heavy it felt physical. I looked at Sha’Nelle, Pressure, then Pluto, then Renza, and none of us knew what to say ‘cause the only words I heard was the ones that broke my heart clean in half.
Death penalty…
Death…
My husband…
I felt myself go numb. Everything around me dimmed like someone turned the world off. I wasn’t hearin’ shit. I wasn’t seein’ nothin’ right.
All I could think about was Kay’Lo in a jail cell, realizin’ he gon’ have to fight for his life. All I could see in my mind was a courtroom, a judge in a black robe, and a sentence that would take the life out of the only man who ever truly belonged to me.
I felt Pluto’s hand on my back, and Sha’Nelle’s hand on my shoulder, but it didn’t ground me. I heard Renza whisper somethin’, but it didn’t reach me. I felt Pressure watchin’ me, waitin’ for me to break or scream or fall apart.
But I couldn’t do shit right now…
I was frozen.
Somebody powerful enough to make the whole nation listen wanted my husband dead.
And the worst part was…
I didn’t know how to save him.
Trill-Land High Court of Justice
I refused to let my son rot or die in prison, and I didn’t care who I had to confront, threaten, or crush to prevent that outcome. Kay’Lo had already been in that hellhole for a week, and every second of it sat on my heart. I wasn’t about to sit in my home while my child waited for a death sentence.
Treasure moved beside me, quiet yet fierce, her hand clutched around her purse as if she was holding the pieces of her heart together. She hadn’t slept since we found out our son was in jail. She cried only when she thought I wasn’t looking, and she prayed in whispers so soft it almost felt like it would work. Yet she still stood next to me, still carried herself with dignity and still walked like a woman who believed her husband could change the outcome of anything.
We arrived at Roderick Lennox’s office inside the Ministry of Justice. The building was cold but polished. It was built for men who believed their decisions were above emotion and above consequence.
I pushed open the heavy doors and walked inside with Treasure following close behind me.
One of Lennox’s aides tried to stop us, but I kept walking as if the man wasn’t even there. He stuttered something about appointments and protocol, yet none of that mattered to me. There was no protocol when your son was facing death. There was no courtesy when a man wanted to stab a needle in your child’s arm.
We stepped into Roderick Lennox’s office, and the first thing I saw was him sitting behind an oversized mahogany desk, surrounded by case files and screens. He lifted his chin, and acknowledged me with a look that wasn’t fear or respect, but something far more dangerous. It was personal.
There was another man in the room with him. He stood off to the side, stiff and observant, as if he already anticipated the explosion about to unfold.
“You’re trying to kill my son, and I need to talk to you about that,” I said, staring into his eyes.
