Police Officer: What is your name?
Me: Jacob, sir.
Police Officer: When did you meet Sunny?
Me: Chinese Valentine's day— the Qixi dinner. They had just moved into town.
Police Officer: Who?
Me: The Wong family.
Police Officer: The Asians?
Me: Yes, sir.
Police Officer (scribbling in a note pad): What is your relationship with Sunny like?
Me: Well, I would consider us to be best friends. We're always together, literally.
Police Officer: Why is that?
Me: Um, I guess I'm obedient, sir. People like that about me.
Police Officer: Tell me more about the Qixi dinner. Was there any sign of aggression in the family?
***
Two years ago on Qixi Festival.
"McFlurry?"
"No, Sunny. It's McMurray," she said, with a tint of aggression, patting white flour off of her apron. Lyssa had spent all day standing with a little pointer, making a red dot of light scurry about on the PowerPoint presentation she had prepared for her resignation. She was the type to turn everything into a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It made the impression that she was thoughtful, but it sure did eat away at her patience.
"Not everything is about food. Fort McMurray. Fort McMurray Fort McMurray. Repeat it twenty times and get it right." She rolled out the dough hard and fast.
"Mom is right. You're going to get laughed at if you can't even pronounce your own town's name," said a man in a thick Chinese accent. Eyes on the screen, he was typing frantically while Sunny and Lyssa remained by the kitchen counter. They were on the quest for the perfect dumpling.
"That's not my town," said Sunny.
"It will be in a week," replied Lyssa. Sunny filled a dumpling with meat to the brim.
"Don't make it so fat. It's going to burst." Though small, Lyssa had a sharp, down-to-the-point voice that could cut a billion trees. She had no tolerance for anything but excellence, even when it came to making dumplings.
"Shoot. It just burst," said Sunny. Lyssa chuckled. She was never wrong.
"It was won-ton destruction," she said. "Why can't you be more like Kelly? She never misbehaves and always follows the rules."
"Well because she has great parents," said Sunny. Lyssa rolled her eyes.
"Okay but seriously. You're going to high school now. The math papers won't be easy... you have to make sure that you don't make any careless mistakes. Always check your exams always twice through." She gave Sunny a long look with raised eyebrows. Not again.
"I know, Mom, I know."
"Straight A's, only 95's and above in this family," She paused. "and no. 94.5 does not count. We round down."
"Seriously?"
"It's not like you haven't done it before. No drugs, no alcohol, no mischief. You got it?"
"Okay. What kind of math do they test anyway?"
"You wanna know?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Answer this problem: If your father earns $500 a week and gives half to his wife, what will he have?" Sunny paused, scratched her little head, and said, "A heart attack."
"Sunny!" Hiram looked up at his daughter and give her the 'oh-not-again' look and the three of them laughed together.
"You know I had a dream last night," said Lyssa. She had a way of shutting everyone up while she remained talking.
"What," replied Hiram still focused on his screen.
"I saw you at the jewelry store and you bought me a diamond ring." She sounded as if she were expecting something.
"Oh really? I had that dream too, and I saw your father paying the bill." Sunny couldn't help but laugh. It was Qixi Festival, Chinese Valentine's day, yet Lyssa was still empty-handed. It proved year after year that Hiram wasn't capable of being romantic. Still, between the three of them, there was the bond of family that held their hearts together through the periods of separation they had lived through in the past. It had the effect of making them tolerant of each other's yarns and even convictions. Now that they were going to live together, everything was just going so sweet.
"No diamond ring, but I'll be making good money in Fort Mac," said Hiram in the tone of a businessman.
"Why are we even going there?" frowned Sunny. "Moving was a great idea until we started packing." She was sick of sitting on old yearbooks, horrendously frustrated. At fourteen, her life had just recently begun to feel right but now it was being stuffed into boxes, sealed within the stern tape, and soon to be hauled hours away from where it would be obligated to open and resume again.
"It's like we're migratory birds. I mean do we have to do this every fall?" She paused. "...and to McMurray or whatever."
"There's a great new school there."
"And what about Kelly? Does she go to that new school?"
"Well—"
"I'm tired of always being the new girl."
"I'm sure you'll make many new friends there."
"Mom. Kelly is my new friend." Sunny turned her head, clearly not on board with the idea of being born again as a girl with no known past. Again.
"At least you aren't coming out of a foreign country by yourself," said Hiram, raising his eyebrows. They had a way of teaming up on Sunny that made her seem trivial and small. "You spoiled kids get so hurt nowadays, by these little challenges. I bet the officer would've told you to go back."
There is silence for a few minutes as they go back to work. Lyssa was a freak when it comes to wasting leftover dough, so she turned the last bit into an extra small, baby-sized dumpling. When the dumplings were placed into the pot, Sunny's were the only ones that disintegrated into the liquid as they boiled.
"Why am I always the one left dumpling-less?" She said, peering into the pot.
"So, what have we learned today?" Lyssa chuckled and turned off the stove. "Think about it."
"Mom, not everything is a lesson." Sunny looked as if she had an overwhelming desire to explain her doubts. It was difficult to converse with her mom without feeling stupid.
"Happy Qixi!" Lyssa said, raising her mug of warm soybean milk. Sunny plumped herself into a cold chair. The family clicked their chopsticks and began their meal. Then, out of nowhere, Lyssa stopped chewing. Just now did Sunny notice the peculiarity of her mother's position. She had not yet seen the beautiful present.
"We have hopes for you and we believe you have great potential to be wealthy and successful... and we will do everything we can to provide you with everything we didn't have when we were younger."
"Er... Mom, are you feeling okay?"
"I'm only saying this because I have high expectations for high school. You know that. Jacob will be your supporter on the way."
"Jacob?"
"Yes." Her voice was strong and secure and full of hope. Curious fingers, a smile, and then an ecstatic scream of joy. Sunny hugged her mother tightly, then her father, and at length, she was able to look up her dim eyes and smile and say, "Oh, I'm sure I'll make friends real fast!" Sunny then leaped up like a little five-year-old and danced. "Oh, oh, I love you, Mom and Dad!" And just like that, I was welcomed into the family and accepted as one of their own.
***
After Qixi, Hiram gave Sunny a handful of haw flakes, lychee jelly, and an assortment of rice crackers. The family hopped on their SUV, which had been loaded the night before with suitcases. Lyssa and Hiram very naturally began chattering about the mysterious rumors attached to Fort McMurray's name.
"People there worth loads of good money for below-average skills. Money is never going to be an issue anymore," said Hiram in an obsessive voice. "Think about that."
"I know. I still can't believe you landed that job."
"And you don't have to work your ass off anymore."
"I know. This is going to be perfect," said Lyssa. "We make a great team, you know?" They were a fine couple. They had been told that for years. They were admired and envied. She winked, he smiled. Then, his face dulled.
"You know I heard there was a shooting at an apartment complex last month."
"What? You didn't tell me." She sounded worried.
"I didn't want you to worry."
"Oh my god. That's terrible."
"Resulted in a death, and it was in the "good" part of town."
"Jesus. What's going on around there?"
"I heard the drug trade is growing big." Lyssa lowered her voice.
"You... you think cocaine was involved?" She said as Hiram sighed.
"It's pretty common, especially with the shift workers because it's easy to get and you can work longer hours."
"What? So many shift workers but doesn't seem like a quiet place."
"Yeah. Downtown is really rough at night."
"I don't know about this, honey. Is it safe?" Hiram turned, put his face close to Lyssa, and said, "It's safe enough for the average citizen. We'll have all the privileges of the world. Overseas travel. A beautiful home. There's nothing to worry about." Lyssa swallowed her doubts. They both heard about Fort McMurray being a dumping ground for contractors who couldn't make a go of it anywhere else. Especially Hiram, he knew about the young aggressive drivers, the drugs, weapons, and violence. But they still went, out of a silly silly hope. For money. For happiness.
"Yeah, you're right," said Lyssa. "It's not like Sunny's going to run into aggressive panhandlers in the downtown core."
Sunny leaned her head against the icy window bored out of her mind. She watched the golden, flaxen pieces of farmland go by from the side, and for the first time, rather than focusing on leaving, she was focused on arriving.
The highway flushed into a sidewalk and the pavement that passed beside them slowly straightened out. In the distance stood the city of Fort McMurray, full of lush green conifers and profuse, luxuriant forests. Some trees had fallen a good deal of their yellow, carotene-ripe leaves, reminding them that fall was on its way. Others stood tall and proud and wrapped around the attenuated, pencil-thin grey roads like peel on a banana. Sealed.
The pavement, barely more than trails themselves, occasionally branched off into narrower dirt pathways hemmed with hiker's footprints and a collage of perished red-orange folioles. Vehicles tracked mud onto the pavement from the mines, coating the roads in salt and sand, and muck seven months of the year.
At last, Sunny met her new house. Middle of a round cul-de-sac. It was minimalistic, coated with basic colors: whites, beiges, light browns. But it was small. Nearly half the size of their house before. It was too late to complain, so they each plopped on a frameless mattress in a random room and drifted off with cold feelings about tomorrow.
***
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, Sunny awoke. She rolled over, then shot up in bed. She blinked, galloped a little, and then... Oh my god. Had she peed a little? The blankets were damper than usual, and her legs were cold. Oh my god. This can't be happening. Seriously? Sunny was almost fifteen! She jumped in embarrassment and rushed to the bathroom. She turned and shut the door behind her. Flicked on the lights. Looked down. A scream.
Red.
Red.
Blood!
Had she been stabbed? Sunny looked as if she didn't feel safe even sleeping in her own house anymore.