Keith stood up to turn and face Dad. None us of knew if he was sobre or not.
"Danny, this is not the time." Keith warned.
"She was my mother too Keith, you have no right to tell me I can't say anything about her at her own funeral." Dad said as he walked towards the front of the church and stood at the pew as the minister moved aside. He eyed Luke, Nate and I as if seeking our approval. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was sobre for the first time in days. I saw Lucas nod his approval and Nathan and I smiled reassuringly at him.
"Instead of saying a whole bunch of things which I can tell were already said about my mom, I'd like to share a memory I have of her that I think will help you all to see the kind of person my mother really was." Dan said.
I looked over and saw Keith bracing himself for what was about to come out of Dad's mouth. I understood why he was a little anxious, Dad and Grandma had grown apart over the last few years, but Dad wouldn't say anything offensive at her funeral would he?
"Like Keith said, Mom and I had our differences but when it all came down to it she had my back. I'll never forget when I told her that I wanted to quit the basketball team."
Flashback Tree Hill-1988
"Danny, this is a surprise." Mae smiled warmly at her youngest son as she pulled him into a hug. "What brings you home?"
Dan plastered a smile on his face as he entered his childhood home. The place held so many memories for him, mostly good but some awful.
"I came to see how you were doing, I know you miss me since I've started college in Raleigh." Dan said with a laugh knowing his mother would see right through his act.
Mae eyed him suspiciously. "Dan, what are you really doing here?"
Dan sighed as he sat down on the couch across from his mother. "I need your help, Mom." He said seriously.
A concerned look crept across Mae's face. "With what?"
"I want to quit the team." He explained.
"You what?" She asked, the shock very evident in your tone. "But you love basketball. It's your life."
Dan nodded. "It WAS my life. I'm not sure what I want anymore, Mom. I need you to help me find a way to break it to Dad, he's going to kill me."
Mae shook her head. "Honey, he loves you despite what you believe. I know he's hounded you about basketball most of your life, but he really does love you."
Dan stood up and started pacing. "Really? How come when Keith quit the team Dad treated him like a failure then, it was as if he didn't even care about Keith whatsoever. If I quit the team Dad will treat me that way, and I couldn't take it." He sat back down. "I don't know what to do Mom, I know I don't want to play anymore, its not the same. If I keep playing I'll grow to hate the sport and I really don't want that to happen. If I quit then I become a failure in Dad's eyes."
Mae listened to what he was saying intently. She wished the things he said weren't true, but she knew they were. Basketball was everything to Royal, sometimes it seemed it meant more to him then his own family. She thought about what they were going to do and then an idea came to her.
"Ok Danny, I'll tell you what were going to do. You know that knee injury you sustained a few months ago?" She asked knowing he'd remember.
Dan nodded.
"Well were going to say that you went to the doctors and they said it was a lot worse then they originally thought and that you'll have to quit playing." Mae explained. "That way you'll be able to stop playing but you won't have to tell your father you quit."
"You'd really help me lie to Dad?" Dan asked surprised. His Mom was the most honest person he knew.
Mae nodded. "I'd do anything to protect you, even lying to your father."
Dan smiled, relieved. "Mom, thank you." He said sincerely grateful.
"Anytime, honey, anytime." She smiled as she hugged her son.
Back to Present Time
"You see my mother really would have done anything for me and for that I'll always be grateful to her. I hope that my kids know I would do the same for them if it came down to it." He smiled at his three kids sitting in the front pew with tears streaming down their faces. "I'm sorry for everything, I love you Mom." Dad said as he wiped a lone tear from his eye and walked to the back of the church and took a seat.
One hour later the service was over and the coffin had been lowered into the ground. The crowd of extended family and friends had gone and all who were left was immediate family. Mom and Keith stood with their arms around eachother, tears brimming in their eyes while Deb stood beside Dad, not sure what to say to him.
Lucas and Nathan and I stood next to Grandpa examining the grave. No words were said for the first few minutes until Grandpa spoke. "Well its time."
We all looked at him confused. "Time for what?" Lucas asked.
"Time to go, I can't stay here any longer, I've said goodbye and there is nothing else to say. I'm leaving." Grandpa stated.
"Where are you going to go?" I ask.
"Who knows, anywhere but here. Thank you kids for coming to the funeral, I know it meant a lot to your Grandmother, but I think its time you kids headed with your parents back home." Grandpa said.
"But Grandpa, we were going to stay for a few days, help you until things calm down." Nathan said.
"I don't need your help, I don't need anybody's help. Just go, leave me." He said clearly getting angry and agitated. Gone was the Grandfather who I had actually felt sorry for over the last few days, the one who seemed almost human like. Royal Scott was back and with a vengeance it seemed.
"Fine." We said in unison and walked back to join our parents.
"What happened?" Keith asked seeing the upset looks on our faces.
"Grandpa's back." I said and that was all they needed to hear before ushering all three of us out of the cemetary and back to the house to get packed up. These last few days had been hard but it almost seemed as if we were in a different world, a world I never thought possible where Grandpa Scott could be perceived as human. Now it was back to Tree Hill and time to face reality again. Reality really does bite sometimes.
