They were both saving for driver’s education, and learning to fix things felt like a step toward independence.

On the way home, they saw a handwritten sign tied to the railing near the old Kingsley bridge.

FREE BIKE REPAIRS FOR FAMILIES WHO NEED THEM. SATURDAYS. ASK FOR WALTER.

Beneath the words was a small drawing of a wrench.

“I thought it was cool,” Gavin said.

“Like a community project.”

Walter was waiting beneath a temporary canvas shelter outside the fenced service yard, tinkering with a rusty child’s bicycle.

He had once worked in a municipal maintenance garage.