"Quentin Fields was a basketball player. He was also a son, a brother, somebody's teammate, somebody's friend."

+++

Nathan had just ended a phone call to Quentin. He was at the rivercourt waiting for Quentin to arrive for practice. Claudia sat in the car and looked out at Nathan. She finally had mustered enough courage to get out of the car. She was destroyed and sad. 

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked smiling, then he could see that there was something wrong. Claudia looked broken. "Claudia, what happened?" Nathan asked as Claudia hugged onto him and cried. She couldn't tell him the news, she couldn't tell him that Quentin was murdered. 

___

Claudia and Nathan were sitting in the kitchen, Deb was with them. They were all devastated by the death of Quentin. 

"What am I gonna tell my students? What am I gonna tell Jamie? He loves Quentin. He's... making him a cape. What am I going to tell Grace?" Claudia asked frantically as she ran her fingers through her hair anxiously. 

"I'll do it." Nathan stated and Claudia shook her head. 

"No. We should do it together." Claudia replied and Nathan nodded his head before they walked out of the kitchen. 

___

Jamie and Grace were sitting on Jamie's bed. They were talking to each other. Nathan and Claudia were standing in the door frame. Claudia was broken, she didn't know what to say. Grace looked at her mom, she had tears in her eyes. 

"What's wrong, momma?" Grace asked and Claudia looked at the innocence in her eyes. 

"It's about Quentin, kiddos." Nathan said as they both sat down next to Grace and Jamie on the bed.  "Listen... Quentin had an accident." Nathan explained and Claudia looked down at the ground. 

"What kind of accident? Is he gonna be okay?" Jamie asked concerned and Nathan sighed. 

"No, he's not okay." Nathan croaked and Claudia watched with tears in her eyes.  "He, um...his...his body stopped working, and he's gone now. He's gone to heaven, okay? And we're not gonna be able to see him anymore." Nathan explained a tear cascaded down Claudia's cheek. 

"What about the Ravens? Isn't he gonna play anymore?" Grace asked and Claudia held both of their hands. 

"Jamie, Grace...he died, buddies. He can't play anymore. And mommy and daddy are incredibly sad about it. So it's okay if you're sad, too. I know that he loved you both very much, and I know that you're gonna miss him. And we're really gonna miss him, too." Claudia explained, she was nearly sobbing. Jamie stood up on the bed.  

"But what about his cape?" Jamie asked concerned and Claudia shook her head. 

"Jamie, he's... Jamie, honey, listen to me." Claudia cried and Nathan looked at his son. He just wasn't understanding what was going on.

"He's gonna like it. You'll see. Grace come on." Jamie replied and both him and Grace left the room. Claudia looked at Nathan and cried. 

___

Claudia was standing in front of her classroom of children. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and white top. Her hair was natural and she had no makeup on. She was away to speak to her students about Quentin. 

"I don't know what to say to any of you." Claudia stated as she leaned on the desk. "I didn't know what to say to my 5-year-old children who loved Quentin just as much as many of you do. So, um, if you want to talk about how you're feeling." Claudia started to say before a student interrupted her. 

"What's the point? I mean, he's gone, right? Some idiot just shot him, and now he's gone forever. So what's the point?" He asked and Claudia listened to the hurt in his voice. She just shrugged his shoulders. 

"There is no point." Claudia replied honestly as she looked over at Quentin's desk. It was empty and all she could think about was their last tutoring session.  

"Quentin, what do you want to do with your life? Besides basketball." Claudia asked intrigued. Quentin sighed a little.

"Besides basketball..." He stated and then he paused, he was thinking to himself. "I don't know, I guess, uh... get married, raise a family." Quentin smiled and Claudia joined in.

"Yeah? You want kids?" Claudia asked grinning excitably.

"I mean, I think about it sometimes. When I look at my little brother or when I see J Luke and G May, I don't know. I think maybe I'll have a son of my own someday or, you know, a little girl. That'd be all right. Yeah." Quentin explained honestly. Grace turned to face him. Claudia listened intrigued.

"Little girls are better." Grace added as she continued to do her homework from school. Claudia and Quentin laughed.

"Well, like I said, you've certainly come a long way." Claudia explained as she walked over to him with his paper. "A plus, Mr. Fields." Claudia grinned happily.

"A plus?" Quentin asked with big eyes. Grace high-fived him excitably.

"A plus." Claudia smiled back at him. She was so happy for Quentin. He did what she would like to call a 'Nathan Scott'. From arrogant, rude bad boy of the town, to the real boy hidden inside. The sweet, kind boy that nobody gets too see.

"What? I got A, nice. So, I guess this means I get to go ahead and stop reading this book?" Quentin asked grinning and Claudia shook her head.

"You tried." Claudia smirked. "But no." She laughed to herself as she walked back to her desk.

"Momma, will make you finish that book. Last night she made us read our homework story until we got it right." Grace whispered loudly over to Quentin. Claudia smiled at her.

"I hear you, genius." Quentin replied as they fist bumps before they went back to their work. 

___

Lucas, Claudia, Nathan, Skills, Peyton, Jamie and Grace all arrived at Quentin's house. Quentin's little brother was playing outside. Claudia looked down at her children. 

"Go ahead and play. Stay in the yard, okay?" Claudia smiled and they walked over to Quentin's little brother who was sitting down on the swing. Everyone waled into the house. Quentin's mother walked into the room.

"Coach Scott... I'm Quentin's mother... Denice." She smiled as she shook hands with Lucas.  

"Ma'am." Lucas replied back as they took their hands back.

"I wanted to thank you for standing up for my boy the way you did in that last game. It's a shame that we have to meet like this." Quentin Mother explained and Lucas nodded his head. 

"Yes, ma'am, it is." He stated and Denise turned to face Skills. 

"Coach Taylor... Quentin always had so many nice thing to say about you, and you, too, Nathan. I really appreciate you boys coming here, but I mostly wanted to say thank you to this one." Denise smiled at them all and then she stopped at Claudia. "My son has always loved basketball. But I got to tell you... when I came home and found him reading a book; it just about gave me a heart attack." Denise explained and Claudia laughed a little.  "He said, "Mama, Mrs. Scott, she don't play." He said, "She almost as bad as you are"." She mimicked and Claudia smiled happily. "I realize that you were all trying to help my boy live up to the greatness that god gave him, and you should be proud of that." She finished to them all and Claudia smiled at her. 

"Your strength is inspiring." Claudia replied honestly. It was inspiring.  

"My strength is from Jesus Christ. I am gonna miss my baby boy for the rest of this life." Denise started to say as she grabbed a photo of Quentin and held it next to her heart. "But I know we are gonna see him again, and our faith will see us through." She finished tearfully. 

"That is very true." Claudia smiled back at Quentin's mother. "Your son did so much for my family, he did so much to help my kids. So if you need anything then just call me." Claudia explained and Quentin's mom hugged Claudia. A picture of Quentin was all that was between them. 

___

Everyone walks out of the house. Claudia watched her children playing with the Dre. She held looked at them, they were all so young to understand.

"Jamie, Grace, come on, buddies, time to go." Claudia called and Grace said her goodbyes to Dre before she ran over to Nathan. He lifted her up. Jamie took Quentin's jersey in the car and returned it to Dre before he walked over to his momma. "You're a good boy, you know that?" Claudia smiled down at him as she caressed his head as they walked to the car.  

___

Claudia was sitting on her bed and she was holding onto the cape she had made for Quentin. Nathan arrived and stood at the door frame. 

"Everyone's just kind of hanging out downstairs." Nathan said and Claudia looked up at him.

"Yeah. I just thought maybe Jamie wanted to finish this." Claudia whispered before she placed it beside her, she sighed a little. "I was also thinking that maybe they shouldn't go to the funeral. It's just gonna be so sad and final." Claudia added. 

"Well, that's what death is, Claude." Nathan replied and Claudia nodded her head. She didn't want to take away their innocence. 

"I know, but they are 5 years old, and they still sees a better world than we do." Claudia explained and Nathan looked over at his wife. 

"Well, not to mention wakes and funerals really creep me out." Nathan added and Claudia raised a brow at him. "Yeah, for you, it's clowns. For me, it's old dead guys." Nathan explained as he sat down on the bed next to Claudia.  "You know, my, uh... my mom's grandfather died when I was around Jamie and Grace's age. And so my whole family's at the wake, and we're kneeling in front of the casket. And I'm really scared because there's this old dead guy just a few feet away from me. Anyway, my mom's crying, and, uh, my dad...he says a couple of words, and then he leans forward, and he kisses the corpse." Nathan reminisced and Claudia listened carefully. She couldn't believe Nathan never told him this.  "And now I'm totally freaked out. And then, he turns to me, and he says, 'kiss your great grandfather, son'." Nathan finished and Claudia gaped at him. 

"He didn't make you?" Claudia asked in shock as she put her hand in front of her mouth. 

"Yeah. It's my dad. Kiss the 100-year-old dead guy in makeup." Nathan answered before he grimaced with disgust. Claudia shuddered a little. 

"Dan sucks." Claudia stated as she looked straight a head. 

"Yeah. Maybe you're right. Maybe Jamie and Grace should sit this one out." Nathan replied and Claudia nodded her head. 

"I am never kissing you again." Claudia laughed as she stood up and walked away. Nathan grabbed her waist and they fell back onto the bed. He kept on kissing her cheeks and Claudia giggled. Was it bad that they were doing this? I mean considering what was happening. 
___

The entire group were all sitting in the Scott's residence living room. Claudia and Nathan finally joined them after they were chatting up the stairs. 

"It's just so hard to accept that things like this happen, and not just to Quentin, but at all...ever." Peyton stated as she looked at everyone. Brooke had 'fallen down the stairs' and her face was all swollen. She was actually assaulted in her shop. 

"One out of every 500 people gets assaulted or raped. There were 30,000 aggravated assaults in our state alone last year, 7,000 robberies, 3,000 murders, 600 rapes. It's official. Life sucks, and then you die." Brooke explained cynically and the Scott Twins arrived. They looked at Brooke, she seemed sorry about what she had just said. Everyone was wondering why Brooke was like this.  "I'm sorry. It's a tragedy. I know it is. I'm sorry. Excuse me." Brooke finished awkwardly before she left the room and went outside. 

"I'll go check on her." Claudia smiled as she stood up and wrapped her hoodie around her. She walked outside to see Brooke by the pool. 

"Hey." Claudia smiled and Brooke turned to face her. 

"I'm so sorry about that. Do I need to go talk to Jamie and Grace?" Brooke asked and she felt awful. Claudia could tell that Brooke did not fall down the stairs, the way she was talking inside it was obvious that something else had happened- something bad. 

"No, they'll be fine. You can talk to me, though." Claudia offered, she was concerned about Brooke. 

"I'm just going through a lot. Saying goodbye to Angie, and Victoria trying to take the company. And then I... fall down the stairs. And now this. It's just a lot." Brooke explained, she was overwhelmed by it all. 

"There was a therapist that Nathan and I went to when we were having some problems. She really helped. I can give you her number if you want." Claudia suggested and Brooke nodded her head. 

"Okay." She muttered and Claudia nodded her head. 

"Okay. Good. I'm really sorry about everything. Must have been some fall down the stairs. Does it hurt?" Claudia asked and Brooke looked at her tearfully. 

"It all hurts." She whimpered and Claudia took her by the side before they walked back into the house together.

___

Claudia walked into her classroom and placed the book that Quentin was studying on her desk. It was Les Miserables. Nathan had found it in Quentin's bag and gave it to her. Claudia saw some new student was sitting on Quentin's desk. 

"What's your name?" Claudia asked as she looked at the girl.

"Sam... Samantha Walker. I'm new." Sam replied and Claudia nodded her head. 

"Can you just take that desk in the back, please?" Claudia asked, she felt uncomfortable with someone else sitting at the desk. It was Quentin's. 

"Why? What's wrong with this one?" Sam asked and Claudia wasn't having this today. She pointed to the desk at the back.  

"That desk is taken." She stated bluntly, Sam grabbed her bag and sat down at the desk at the back. 

___

"You know what? Um... you guys asked me what the point was to all of this school and literature...life. And, uh, I said there was no a point. And that's not true. What I should have said was, "I don't know," because the truth is, not long ago, I sat right where you are and wondered exactly the same things. When something that's tragic and evil and unexplainable happens like losing someone forever... I still wonder...just like you do." Claudia explained as she sat down at her desk and looked at her students. "Okay just put your books away. All right, everybody, get out a piece of paper and a pen." Claudia instructed as she got up and walked to the front of her desk.

"Why?" Sam asked from the back, Claudia looked straight at her. 

"Because this is a literature class." Claudia answered. "When archaeologists uncover lost civilisations and they unearth these worlds that have long since been destroyed, you know what they find most often? They find stories...ancient languages, words, inscriptions from people who've been gone for thousands of years because chances are, they, like you, they wanted to know, "what's the point?" And they wanted us to know that they were here, you know?" Claudia explained as she got up from the desk and walked down the rows of desks.  "Like... they told their stories, and they tried to make sense out of their lives and their worlds and their tragedies. So that's what we're gonna do. So I want you to write something, anything at all, about Quentin Fields. If you knew him, write a favourite memory. If you didn't know him, write what you think the point is of all this for yourself and your life and your time here. This is a literature class, and that's what writers do. We put pen to paper in times of devastating tragedy. And we just try and make sense of it. Maybe we'll find clarity in some of those words. Maybe we'll find peace." Claudia continued before she stood next to Quentin's desk and found someone had written a message on it.  "Who wrote this?" Claudia asked looking at all of her students. 

"I did." The student guilty answered as he sat at the desk behind Quentin's. 

"Give me your marker." Claudia instructed and the student did just that. She took the marker and wrote something on the desk. The same boy read out what Claudia had wrote.  

"He who does not weep does not see." He read out and Claudia nodded her head. "What's that from?" He asked and Claudia turned to face him.

"Les misérables. The miserables." Claudia answered and then she held the marker up in the air.  "Who's next?" She asked and then she passed the pent to another student. Soon enough everyone was waiting to write something on Quentin's desk. Except Sam. Claudia passed behind Sam.  "Nice shirt. Clothes Over Bros, right?" Claudia asked Sam. She had just found Brooke's shoplifter. Sam felt really awkward and embarrassed. 

___

Claudia was doing her makeup for the funeral as Jamie sat on the bed, Grace was down the stairs with her dad. 

"How come you're getting dressed up again?" Jamie asked confused, Claudia looked at her son through the mirror. 

"Because, uh, mommy and daddy are gonna go to Quentin's funeral, and you and Grace are gonna go to the sitter's, remember?" Claudia explained as she put on some blush. 

"And what happens there, exactly...at the funeral?" Jamie asked and Claudia looked down at her makeup before looking back at Jamie through the mirror. 

"We're gonna say goodbye to Quentin, honey." Claudia answered and Jamie looked hurt that he wasn't going. Then he had an idea but he needed Grace's help. He quickly ran out of the bedroom and Claudia watched him sad. 

___

Claudia and Nathan found Grace and Jamie dressed for the funeral. Grace found a black dress in the bag of her closet and Jamie was wearing a suit, his tie wasn't on right. 

"We want to go." Jamie stated as he held onto Grace's hand. Claudia watched the strength that her kids had and it was amazing. 

"Kids..." Nathan began to say but Grace cut in. 

"Quentin was our friend, and we want to say goodbye, too." Grace explained and Claudia walked towards them. 

"It's gonna be really sad, kiddos." Claudia replied sympathetically. 

"We are already sad." They both said at the same time. Claudia squatted in front of her kids and fixed Jamie's tie.  Haley squats in front of him and puts him his tie correctly. 

"You're right. Quentin was your friend and a good one. You should both say goodbye." Claudia smiled at her children. She hugged her kids and Nathan caressed both their heads. 

___

"The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. We're to celebrate the home going of young Quentin Fields." The Priest started off saying. Everyone was at the funeral, Claudia was holding  onto her children's shoulders, motherly.  "We celebrate the life of brother Quentin" The Priest continued as Deb walked over to Skills. Nathan watched them, the secret affair was now over. The team of Ravens arrived at the coffin; a player gave flowers to Denice Fields.

___

"I didn't know Quentin Fields but I'm jealous of him, because I see how his absence has affected the people who did know him, so I know that he mattered to them. And I know he was loved. People say Quentin Fields was a great basketball player...graceful, fluid, inspiring. They say, on a good night, it almost seemed as though he could fly, and now he can." Claudia read in her head as she sat at her desk. It was an essay that Sam had written about Quentin. It moved Claudia, it was a beautiful essay.