Once again, I get up very early to prepare Dray a birthday cake. Once everyone has showered and gotten ready for the day, we gather around it to help Dray blow out his candles. Then, we sing and make as much noise as possible while watching him age.
Afterward, he insists on taking some birthday pictures with Mase.
(Drake’s Aspiration: Rambunctious Scamp Trait: Adventurous)
Mase and Dub gather their things and hurry to catch their school buses, leaving Dray behind. We sit down to eat birthday cake while Me-Me studies, hoping for a promotion soon.
Kai: I need to take Belle for a walk, but when I get back – you and I will take a trip to town to load up on some groceries and supplies. Are you okay with that?
Drake: Can I go outside and play until you get back?
Kai: Sure, just make sure your ma knows where you are.
After eating, I leash up the dog and go outside for her morning walk.
After I’ve returned, showered, and dressed for the day, I go to the mailbox to check the mail – expecting bills and birthday gifts for Dray from Me-Me’s family. I was right about the bills and gifts, but I also find something unexpected. It’s a bill from a storage company in Windenburg, addressed to Craig Conway or a current resident.
My father has been dead for a while, so ‘current resident’ refers to me. I open it up and see that my father opened a storage unit, I’m assuming way back when my grandparents first died. He paid it up years ahead, but the payment has finally come due again. The letter attached to the bill says that the items in storage will be auctioned and sold if I don’t respond within thirty days with either a payment or to claim the stored items.
I’m distracted, thinking about the storage unit when Dray runs over.
Drake: Daddy! I’m ready to go to town now.
I’m beyond curious and want to see what’s inside this unit.
Kai: Um – there’s a change of plan.
I pull out my phone and look up the address to the storage facility, then continue.
Kai: We’re going to Windenburg.
The winter weather in Windenburg is harsh as usual when we arrive. It’s snowing so hard that we can barely see within a few feet in front of us. I pull up to the storage unit, and we step out and hurry inside.
A guy is sitting behind the counter. I walk over to let him know why we’re there.
Houston: Do you know the unit number?
Kai: The bill says it’s unit two.
Houston: Do you have the key to the unit?
Kai: No, I don’t.
Houston: I can grab the spare for you, but if the key is lost, there will be a §10 charge for a replacement.
Kai: That’s fine. I just want to see what’s inside the unit.
After receiving the spare key, Dray and I head back out into the terrible weather to find the unit. There are not many at this location, so it doesn’t take long for us to find it. I unlock the door, and we step inside.
Drake: Whoa, there’s a lot of stuff! Is it all ours?
Kai: I guess it is now.
I pause as I look around. When Me-Me and I first moved into my grandparents’ homestead, I often wondered why there were no personal items inside. I never found any of my grandparents’ clothes, pictures, or anything else indicating they ever lived there. Now I see why. My father must have moved all that stuff here after they died and he inherited everything. This storage facility might be the key to finding out what I’ve always wanted to know about my father’s side of the family.
Kai: We need to go through everything to sort out the important from what’s unimportant. *overwhelmed sigh* I don’t know where to start.
Dray’s eyes dart from here to there as if trying to take in everything at once. I kneel next to a box in the center of the storage unit and begin going through it. Meanwhile, Dray spots something interesting.
Drake: Daddy, who are they?
I respond, never taking my eyes away from the box.
Kai: Who’s who?
Drake: The people in the picture.
I pull an old snow globe from the box – the only thing worth taking, and stand up to see what Dray is talking about. I gasp as my eyes land on a photo partially hidden behind a pile of law books. I pull the dusty framed picture from behind the stack and lean it on top so that Dray and I can get a good look at it. I recognize my father immediately, although he appears to be a teen in the picture. Seated next to him are two people who can only be his parents – my grandparents, Judge Magdalena and Chester Conway. I finally respond.
Kai: That’s your grandfather and your great-grandparents.
My eyes go over the picture, desperate to take in every detail. Years ago, I questioned a few people in town about my grandparents and received some information, but life soon became busy, and I gave up my search. So now I’m here – finally discovering what they looked like for the first time.
There’s a second picture – a close-up of the Conway family. I pull it out and lean it where the first picture was. I notice things that I couldn’t see in the first picture. For instance -I have my grandmother’s eyes but not her stern, severe expression.
I pull my eyes away and look around at the rest of the stuff stored in the unit.
Kai: *to Dray* Let’s see if anything else is important here.
Dray and I spend the rest of the morning and afternoon going through all the boxes, suitcases, and storage containers, looking for pictures, letters, newspaper articles, and anything else, giving me clues about who my grandparents were. Finally, Dray and I fill a box with items worth keeping and bringing home. Then we return to the office.
Kai: I have everything I need from the unit.
Houston: Will you take over the bill or empty it?
Kai: What’s my other choice?
Houston: You can leave the stuff inside and permit us to auction off the items. We will take a fee, and the rest will go to you.
Dray and I left behind plenty of boxes filled with clothes and decorations. Surely some of it has value. Auctioning off the items would probably be best, so I give Houston permission. He types up a contract and prints it out for me to sign.
(Generation 3 Chapter Summaries)
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