Chapter 1 - The Laughter That Drowned the Law.
The initial silence in the courtroom was not a mark of respect.
It was the shocked pause before a tidal wave of ridicule.
When I stood up on that chair, the squeal of the microphone was the only sound I made that didn't prompt mockery.
I saw Headmaster Victor Hale’s lips curl into a smirk so broad it almost touched his ears.
Richard Latham, the shark-faced attorney, just shook his head, looking more bored than amused.
The laughter started with a snicker near the back gallery and then crashed over us like a physical weight.
My mom, Lydia Moore, sat beside me, her knuckles white as she gripped her chair.
She was trembling, not with embarrassment, but with terror.
The judge, a man who looked like he’d seen everything except this, raised a single, heavy eyebrow.
“Order!” his gavel struck once, and then again, the sound cutting through the amusement like a knife.
“Ms. Moore,” Judge Vance said, his voice like grinding stones, “the court requires serious representation.”
I didn't step down from the chair.
“I am serious representation, Your Honor,” I said, projecting my nine-year-old voice as best I could.
I looked directly at Headmaster Hale.
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“You fired my mother for not letting you poison children.”
The room went quiet again, but this time, it was different.
