Chapter 3 Kay’lo Mensah #2
“You and I have known each other a very long time. I have supported every endeavor you have ever pursued, and I have never asked you for anything I did not deserve. I helped build the foundation of this very courthouse you stand in, and I have never once turned my back when you needed my assistance. So for you to deny my nephew a bond, when you know for a fact that something foul is happening behind the scenes, is not only disappointing but deeply insulting.”
The judge shifted in his seat. His fingers tapped the bench. His forehead tightened with stress he ain’t want nobody to see.
Lennox shot up from his seat again, bumpin’ into the desk like he couldn’t hold it in no more.
“That woman is no saint!” he barked. “She believes her money and intimidation can bend the law for her family. She is a narcissistic sociopath who thinks the world exists to serve whatever twisted agenda she dreams up! She manipulates judges, she manipulates businessmen, she manipulates anyone foolish enough to get near her! And now she wants to manipulate this court into letting a killer walk free!”
His finger trembled in the air as he pointed at her again, his voice crackin’ from how hard he was pushin’ it.
“She corrupts everything she touches! She hides behind charm and elegance, but she is the most dangerous person in this room, and every single one of you know it!”
The courtroom went dead quiet. Even the bailiffs froze.
Auntie finally turned her head toward him, slow and graceful like she just remembered he existed.
“Mr. Lennox,” she said soft, “you’ve addressed me with so many colorful titles this afternoon… but if it brings you comfort, you may simply call me Abeni.”
The judge called for order again, but the room felt tense enough to snap. My family ain’t move. They just watched, calm and collected.
Auntie leaned forward and placed both her hands on the desk. Her rings caught the light, and her posture shifted just enough to let everyone feel the shift in temperature.
“Mr. Lennox does not play about his family, and I respect that. But I do not play about mine either.”
Then she finally turned her head his way, just for a second, almost like she was bein’ polite about the shit.
“And since you’ve chosen to use words like narcissist and sociopath,” she continued, her voice still smooth as hell, “I think it is only fair we remind the court where this situation truly began.”
You could hear a pin drop...
“Judge Marston, we are pretending this case is solely about two young men losing their lives. Yet the facts reveal something very different. The conflict did not begin with my nephew. It began because Mr. Lennox’s daughter involved herself in matters far outside her maturity and comprehension.”
Lennox’s whole face tightened, but Auntie ain’t give his ass a second to jump in.
“I will phrase this with care,” she said, all smooth and classy while cuttin’ the shit out of him. “His daughter is… an impulsive young woman… easily swayed... tragically unwise in the way she pursues relationships belonging to other women.”
My chest tightened when Auntie’s eyes slid toward Toni for a heartbeat, and she wasn’t wrong.
“She created chaos. She provoked situations. She harassed a married man and convinced herself she was entitled to him.”
Gasps went through the courtroom like people couldn’t believe she actually said it out loud, but I could! That was Auntie right there.
She lifted her chin and kept goin’.
“So if we wish to assess character or put labels on things, perhaps those labels should be directed toward the young woman whose behavior set this tragedy in motion. A young woman whose recklessness placed her own bloodline directly in the path of danger.”
Lennox stepped forward, red as a damn stop sign. “Don’t you speak about my daughter! You hear me? Don’t you dare—”
Auntie ain’t look at that nigga. She kept her eyes on the judge.
“Judge…,” she said gently, “the truth is not complicated. His sons confronted my nephew because of their sister’s obsession and her refusal to accept boundaries.
They inserted themselves into an issue they had no business touching, and the outcome, though tragic, was created by the choices of that household, not mine. ”
She folded her hands, poised. “If Mr. Lennox wishes to shout names, then perhaps he should begin at home.”
The judge stared at her, his face pale. He opened his mouth but no sound came out yet ‘cause at that exact moment, one of the lawyers sittin’ beside Lennox started coughin’.
It wasn’t a normal cough. The shit was violent. His body jerked forward, and the sound filled the room as he reached for his throat. People jumped from their seats. Security rushed over. He fell out of his chair and hit the floor hard, gaspin’ as if the air around him had vanished.
Lennox shouted his name. The man clawed at the ground, chokin’ so loud the entire courtroom froze. Somebody called for medical responders, and people rushed in from the hallway.
Auntie never looked at him. She kept her eyes locked on the judge the entire time.
She waited until the noise died down and buddy was taken out of the room on a stretcher. Then she addressed the judge again.
“Judge Marston, I hope today serves as a reminder that holding my nephew does not create order,” she said, her tone gentle but sharp in meaning. “It creates disruption, and I believe we both know the wiser choice would be releasing him rather than inviting a conflict neither of us wants.”
The judge’s eyes widened ‘cause he knew.
He knew exactly what she was sayin’, and he knew exactly what she was capable of.
And he knew that choking man on the floor wasn’t no damn coincidence.
She finally stepped back, takin’ my hand again, and she said to the judge, “We will move accordingly.”