Chapter 36
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.
He looked at me like it suddenly clicked to him who I was, closed a file slowly and folded his hands. “Mr. Mensah. I assume you have a problem with that.”
Treasure’s breath trembled beside me, but she held her head high. I walked toward his desk.
“You know exactly why I’m here. My son needs a bond, and you’re refusing to give him one.”
Lennox gave a shallow shrug. “Your son murdered two men in broad daylight. Those two men are my sons. My blood. Don’t barge in here begging for your son’s life when he didn’t spare mine.”
Treasure flinched, and I felt her pain. I could tell she was ready to go on the attack which she had every right. But I needed to handle this, so I lightly squeezed her hand to remind her I was here to take care of this shit.
I kept my eyes locked on Lennox. “Your sons showed up at my son’s place of business threatening him. They approached Kay’Lo like they wanted to fight him. They weren’t innocent.”
He stared back at me without blinking. “Do you expect me to care that they started it? My boys are dead, Mr. Mensah. Dead. And your son is going to pay for it.”
My jaw tightened and heat crawled up my spine. “Your sons made a choice. They came to my son’s shop prepared to hurt him. He defended himself. You know damn well if the roles were reversed you’d be claiming self-defense before the bodies even hit the ground.”
The other man stepped forward slightly, as if he feared something would happen.
“Mr. Mensah, I am well aware of your status on this island. You’re used to getting whatever you want,” Lennox said. “You walk around this island like you built it, and maybe in some ways you did, but that doesn’t change the fact that your son executed my boys. This case is personal now.”
I leaned forward on his desk. “And everything is personal when it threatens family.”
“And that,” Lennox said, “is exactly why your son will not see a bond. He will not walk free while my sons lie in the ground.”
Treasure stepped closer. “We are not asking to free him. We are asking for due process. He deserves a bond, the same way any other citizen would.”
Lennox turned his gaze toward my wife like he’d had enough of me.
“I understand you’re hurting. I truly do. But your son didn’ just take my boys from me and my wife. He took them from our family.”
For the first time, I seen a flicker of grief in Lennox’s eyes like he could no longer be strong.
“And they approached my son,” Treasure replied softly. “Why doesn’t that matter?”
“Because I’m the attorney general,” he said, “and I decide what matters.”
Before I could speak again, he looked at me and added, “And I assure you, Mr. Mensah, nothing you do will stop the direction this case is going. You can pull your strings, wave your money, threaten to shut down networks. It won’t help you.”
I stepped closer until only his desk separated us.
“You think I need to wave money to get results? You think I need to beg? TrillNet powers every digital breath this nation takes. You’ve built your whole judicial system on data that runs through my infrastructure.
If I wanted, I could flip this shit into darkness. ”
Lennox didn’t blink once. “And if you did, you would be placing your son’s execution on a silver platter. Because you don’t scare me, Mr. Mensah. I buried two sons. Do you truly believe I fear a man who still has his child breathing?”
Something snapped inside me.
I grabbed Lennox by the front of his suit and jerked him forward so hard the papers on his desk blew off the edge. Treasure gasped and reached for my arm but I didn’t let go. The other man rushed forward and tried to force my grip loose.
“You listen to me!” I growled, my face inches from his.
“If you think I will allow you to murder my son, you are out of your fucking mind! I don’t care what laws protect you.
I don’t care what title you hold, muthafucka!
I don’t care who you know or what strings you pull.
If my son dies, I will burn every inch of this fucking island until there is nothing left for you to rule. ”
The other man finally managed to wedge himself between us. Lennox smoothed his suit with a smirk as if nothing happened. He straightened his papers. Adjusted his cuffs, then he looked right at me.
“Are you finished?” he asked calmly. “Because if so, you may see your way out of my office. This conversation is over.”
Treasure touched my shoulder gently, her voice breaking as she whispered, “Do not let him get away with this.”
I stared at Lennox, feeling a rage I hadn’t felt in decades. It was something dark and primal that made my hands shake.
“You have no idea what you’re provoking,” I said. “You think you’re fighting one man. You’re fighting an entire legacy.”
“And you’re fighting a father,” he replied, “who has nothing left to lose.”
Treasure looked at Lennox with glossy eyes. “Well, let’s just hope you can swing your ass off.”
I stepped back, and she moved beside me as we walked toward the door. My heart felt like fire in my chest, yet I kept my posture straight because my wife needed my strength.
Right before I stepped out, I looked back at Lennox. His expression hadn’t changed. He still sat with that calm, controlled anger.
“We will not stop fighting,” I told him.
He replied, “Neither will I.”
Treasure squeezed my hand the moment the door closed behind us.
If my son didn’t make it out of this, Roderick Lennox would have more than his sons to grieve.