LITMIR.BIZ

      For the first time in her life, Jasmine hated every second of the forty-five minute drive to Victoria. She maintained a stony silence, nurturing the hostility she felt towards her father. For awhile he rambled on about China, and how they could explore it together when she flew out next month— but only if she wanted to, he added hastily. Then he switched to questions: had she packed everything, had she remembered the pieces for her quilt, was there anything she needed, anything she wanted.... She continued to ignore him. Finally he stopped talking and turned on the radio. For once, Jasmine didn’t complain about his choice of stations.

      Along the winding road, past the rush-hour traffic inching its way through the suburbs, onto the highway. Past service stations, car lots, sprawling shopping centres. Flashing lights, howling sirens, screeching brakes. Jasmine winced. Why had she ever wanted to take the bus into Victoria? ’Cause it would have been fun, her inner voice said. Fun, with her friends. Not like now. Not like getting dumped by her father.

      “Do you want to do any shopping?” he asked. “We could stop at a mall.”

      Silence.

      “Well, we are stopping for supper. Any requests? The sky’s the limit.”

      Jasmine shrugged. When he pulled into her favourite fast-food restaurant she refused to show the slightest interest.

      “What? No cheeseburger? Milkshake? You’ve got to eat something.”

      She shook her head, and picked at the fries and onion rings.

      After supper they crept along Douglas Street, crowded with pedestrians and traffic. People swept in and out of stores and restaurants, hurrying to finish their shopping, hurrying to grab a bite before heading home, hurrying to rent a video for the evening.

      “Thought we’d go through Chinatown,” her father said, “since you’re going there tomorrow.”

      An Oriental gate arched across Fisgard Street, shining an invitation to enter. As they drove down the block Jasmine felt her pulse quicken, stirred by the lights, colour, movement and sound. But she remained silent.

      Then they were crossing the Johnson Street Bridge, the lift bridge that was raised like a drawbridge whenever boats passed through the Inner Harbour. Her father made his usual remark about its odd shade of blue but Jasmine did not respond. Finally, they were turning into the parking lot of Val’s condominium. “Straight up to the ninth floor,” he said.

      “My lucky number,” Jasmine muttered. “Some luck.”

      They stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway to 927. “The door number even adds up to nine,” her father said cheerfully. “Eighteen, actually, but add those two digits and you get nine. What do you think of that!”

      Val was waiting at the door. “Hi, Martin,” she said, giving him a hug. “Come on in. And Jasmine! Welcome to the double lucky condo. Pretty auspicious, don’t you think?”

      “Auspicious?” Great. She couldn’t even understand her aunt’s language.

      “Favourable. A good omen. Nine’s my lucky number, you see. And you were born in 1976, weren’t you? The Year of the Dragon, a very lucky sign. But I could babble on and on about auspicious symbols. Martin, how about some coffee?” The whole time she was talking, Val was bustling about the kitchen, setting up the coffee maker, slicing Nanaimo bars, arranging butter tarts on plates. “Jasmine, you probably feel a bit strange about being here, so why don’t I show you your room and you can get settled.” She caught her eyeing the Nanaimo bars and laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll save you some.”

      Jasmine followed her down the hall. “Here you are. Fill up the drawers and closet with your things. Read any of the books you want. Enjoy the view.”

      “Wow!” The exclamation slipped out, in spite of her vow to be miserable. “So many lights!”

      The scene was magical, so different from home where there wasn’t even a streetlight. Across the Inner Harbour, the Legislative Buildings shimmered

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