Ended up texting with ZM for a while after that.
Mostly about the bike.
Freight delays. Parts. Shipping headaches.
Same stuff.
At some point she asked if I’d started going through any of the documentation notes yet.
Told her not really.
Been distracted.
Think I mentioned something about my grandfather.
Some unfinished thing I probably should’ve dealt with already.
Didn’t explain much beyond that.
She just said:
“Then deal with it first.”
Said she didn’t want me rushing through a restoration while my attention was somewhere else.
Fair enough.
Next afternoon I ended up back at the Legion.
Couple beers.
Sat there messing with the key half the time without realizing I was doing it again.
Finally got tired of thinking about it.
Talked to one of the older guys working there.
Took him a minute to remember what I was even talking about when I mentioned the old storage buildings out back.
Eventually he found a ring with about six different keys on it and told me if I got lost back there not to die because he didn’t feel like doing paperwork.
Buildings were exactly what I expected.
Old maintenance sheds.
Dust everywhere.
Smelled like mildew and old wood.
Most of it was junk.
Flags. Uniforms. Old records. Random military stuff.
Spent probably an hour opening lockers and digging through crap before I finally found one the key fit.
Small metal storage box.
Honestly kind of froze for a second when the key turned.
Brought the whole thing home unopened.
Still sitting in the shop right now.