All good things always come to an end. A voice called out over the loudspeaker. “And next up we have one of the Pualele Club boys taking to the mike. Daniel, where are you bro? We need your silky smooth voice up here on the stage.”
He gave me a wry smile. “Gotta go. Wish me luck. And don’t let anyone kidnap you before I get back, okay?”
Still trying to catch my breath, I could only nod, watching him as he made his way through the crowd. It would be his first time performing in public – apart from church and school, and I knew he had to be apprehensive. I was nervous for him and joined the crowd in clapping and cheering as he joined the band on the stage that had been set up under the stars.
He took the mike with a wave out to the crowd. “Thank you, everyone. And thank you to the band for letting me up here.” A teasing grin for the audience, “Be nice to me. This is my first time.”
The crowd laughed, some calling out. “We love you, Daniel!”
“This song is going out to the lady in red at the back there. The girl who holds the key to my forever in her hands.”
Daniel started singing, the first few lines of ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love’ by Samoa’s all-time favorite band, UB40.
I had never heard him sing a contemporary piece before and I was captivated. So caught in his song that I never noticed the man holding a beer bottle who swayed and stumbled at my side. Not until he bumped into me. “Oi, shaman. Shorry babe.” He was drunk, his voice slurred, but he smiled when he saw me. “Pretty girrrl. Hi babee. You wanna dance?”
I shook my head, wishing he would stumble away somewhere else. “No thank you. I’m waiting for my boyfriend.”
The drunk didn’t seem to hear me. Instead, he tried to hug me in a sweaty embrace. “I like you babee. Let’s have some fun.” His hands were everywhere. Grabbing my butt, groping my breast. His beer breath hot in my face as he tried to plant a slobbery kiss on my lips.
I reacted. Without thought. A lightning flash of flame from my raised hands hit the man in the face and he yelped, releasing his hold instantly. His beer bottle fell to the ground, the crash of breaking glass swallowed up with the noise of the crowd, of the band. He half-fell against a table, and the group standing there pushed him away, snapping at him to “go home … alu i le fale, you drunken fool!”
I stood there frozen, worried that people had seen the flames but everyone seemed to be caught up in the performance. Daniel was now singing a Bob Marley song and half of the place was singing along with him.
“Whew.” A sigh of relief, but it was short-lived because standing there in the half-darkness of the crowded bar, I felt a coldness. A prickle of unease, as if there were a centipede crawling up my back. Someone or something was watching me. I turned and saw him standing a few feet away, holding a bottle of Vailima beer, staring at me. The boy from the regatta. The one with the piercings and scars, only tonight he wore a black silk shirt and slacks. How long had he been standing there?? What had he seen? And why was he looking at me like that?
I raised my chin defiantly and stared right back at him. He must have interpreted that as a signal that I wanted to talk because he walked over to me.
His first words were teasing. “So your pretty boy can sing too, ay Leila?”
I was in no mood to play. With anyone. But especially with arrogant boys who saw too much. Eyes narrowed, my voice was a hiss. “What do you want?”
A careless shrug. A heavy American-accented drawl. “Nuthin’. Just bein’friendly.” His eyes raked me up and down. “Don’t you look nice tonight.”
I glared. “Wait, how did you know my name?”
He looked bored by the inanity of the question. “Samoa’s a very small place. Ask and it shall be given. Simple.” He held out one bandaged hand. “My name’s Keahi.”
I ignored it and folded my arms. I hoped I had hostility stamped all over me. I hoped the very air radiated with chemical aggression. “What do you want?”
A wry smile transformed his face as he opened his arms expansively. “This is me apologizing. I’m trying to be friends here. You know, make peace. For today.”
“I don’t want to be friends. You’ve apologized. Now go away and leave me alone.” I turned away from the boy who had me on edge even when he was apologizing. I didn’t trust him, didn’t like him, and didn’t want to be anywhere near him.
Still he didn’t leave. Just stood there, smiling that irritating smile. I tried snapping. “What? Now what do you want?”
“Aren’t you going to apologize to me?”
“Excuse me? What for?”
“Let me see, for doing something to burn my hands. For taking advantage of my gentlemanly respect for women so that you could knock me down and then almost break my ribs with that blow to the abs. Lucky for me I’ve got rock hard abs of steel. But see the bruises you gave me?” He pulled up his silk shirt to mock a sorrowful shake at his abdomen stamped with more ornate Pacific markings. Even in this dim light though, I could see the scar patterns that sat just beneath the tattoos, giving them a slight disfigured edge. And I noticed – but didn’t want to – the taut muscle and contoured abs, the curve of his hip as it dipped down to something else.
He looked around to make sure nobody was listening. He needn’t have worried because the whole place was captivated by Daniel’s singing. He turned back to me and the smile was gone. “What did you do to that drunk?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what did you just do to that guy who was groping you? I’ve been watching you and I saw the whole thing.”
“Nothing. An intoxicated man groped me and I pushed him away, that’s all.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me.”
“I don’t care what it looked like to you, that’s what happened.”
“And what really happened today at the regatta?”
“You mean when I kicked your arrogant ass today?”
His eyes narrowed and his tone was steel. “I mean, when you did something to that paddle so that it burnt my hands. What did you do?”
I shook my head and tried to walk away. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why don’t you leave me alone. I’m trying to listen to my boyfriend’s singing.”
His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist in an iron grip, “You’re not leaving until you tell me what happened today.”
The suddenness of his attack had me gasping. I knew my eyes flashed fire. “Let go of me. Trust me, you do not want to make me angry.”
He ignored my warning. Instead he yanked at my arm, pulling me after him as he walked a few steps out of the restaurant and onto the grass. Not wanting to cause a scene, not wanting to disrupt Daniel’s first performance, I allowed myself to be pulled outdoors, but inside my rage was simmering. Outside, the moonlight painted Keahi’s charcoal eyes near silver as again he asked, “I want to know what you really are.”
I wanted to incinerate this disturbing boy with his tattoos and pierced face, this boy who reeked of danger. “For the last time, I’m warning you. Get your hands off me.”
“I want to see what happens when you get mad. Come on, Leila. Show me.”
Cold dread. He knew something. Suspected something. “Nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He shook his head. “I saw you just now with that man. But more than that. I felt you.” He leaned closer and I shrank back from his accusing gaze. He was standing so close now that I could taste his breath. The air was layered in his scent. It tasted of chili. Subdued vanilla. Overlaid with smoke. This boy called Keahi smelled familiar.
He smells like me … telesā fanua afi.
As the familiarity hit me, Keahi winced, stumbled backwards, with his head in his hands. “Argh.” His cry of pain ripped unwillingly from him.
My anger was turned to confusion, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
The boy swayed, turned, and lurched a few steps away before tripping to fall to his knees in the rock garden.
“
Hey, are you alright?”
I moved to kneel beside him but again he cried out. “Aargh, get away from me. It hurts. Get away from me.”
Ignoring his command, I touched his shoulder, “Let me help you. You don’t look well …”
And that’s when I saw it. The boy’s tattoos – on his arms and neck, all of them – were glowing in the black night. Glowing red. Like blood. Like fire. I fell back away from him. “What are you? Who are you?”
The distance between us seemed to help because he shook his head and staggered to his feet, still with one hand to his head. “What did you just do to me?”
“I don’t know.” We stood there in the moonlight with an ocean of questions between us.
“Leila?” We both turned at the voice. It was Simone, a fuchsia vision. He stood there with a hand on one hip, studying us both. “Hmmm, am I interrupting something exciting? And forbidden?”
I smiled with weak relief. “Simone, there you are. I was looking for you.”
“Yes I can see you were looking reeeally hard for me. Out here in the dark. Because I always hang around in dark corners with dop bad boy honeys.” He batted his eyelashes at Keahi, who looked like he didn’t know how to react to being confronted by a beautiful boy in a tube dress. “I’m Simone, dahling. And while I would love to talk dirty with you out here in the darkness, I really need Leila to come with me inside, right now.”
Simone grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. He didn’t stop until we were both inside the privacy of the girl’s bathroom. Two other girls were touching up their makeup when we walked in but Simone dispensed with them immediately.
“You two, leave. Now. Before I scratch your eyes out. This ladies room is now occupied.”
He locked the door behind them before turning to confront me. “What the hell were you doing getting busy outside with that boy when your man is singing his little heart out to you on stage?”
Simone was so mad that he looked like he wanted to rip my hair out. I was almost afraid of him. “It’s not what you think. Nobody was ‘getting busy’ outside and dammit, Keahi is not a ‘dop hot boy’. I would sooner spit on him than get near him, okay?”
My outrage seemed to appease Simone somewhat. “So if you weren’t getting up close and personal with that Hawaiian hottie, what were you doing outside with him?”
I struggled to find an explanation that would make sense. “He wanted to apologize about the fight at the regatta today.”
Simone still looked puzzled. “Apologize for what?”
“He was rude to me. He called me Daniel’s bitch and said all this stuff about me and Daniel …”
“Get out, he did not! Why didn’t you tell me that before? Girlfriend, you know I got your back. Did you tell Daniel?”
“No.”
“No? Are you out of your freakin’ mind? Let’s go tell him now so he can work that fool over. Ooh, I can’t wait to see Daniel fasi him.” Now he was gleeful.
“No, I don’t want any trouble. I don’t want Daniel to know. Promise me you won’t say anything to him. I’m not letting you out of here until you promise me.”
I put on my serious, angry face and finally Simone relented. “Fine then. You’re the boss. But I still think you should tell Daniel. It is so hot when two honeys fight.” He had a faraway look in his eyes. “Just think, their shirts would get all ripped up and they would get all sweaty and dirty rolling around on the ground.”
“Simone!”
He pouted, unlocked the door, and flounced out. “Fine. I won’t tell Daniel.”
“Tell me what?” It was Daniel. Standing in the walkway outside the bathrooms, a frown of worry on his face. “Leila, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Simone rolled his eyes at me behind Daniel’s back as he pulled me close. Relief as he kissed me on the forehead. “I was getting worried. What’s Simone talking about? What are you not going to tell me?”
He looked from Simone to me and back. Simone only shrugged, miming a ‘my lips are sealed’ motion before flouncing back out to the dance floor, throwing over his shoulder. “You’re on your own with this one, Leila.”
A reassuring smile up at Daniel. “Nothing. I loved your singing babe. Heck, everyone loved it. They couldn’t get enough of you. You were awesome.” I pointed out to the dance floor. “Come on, do you want to dance?”
But Daniel would not be distracted. “Later. What’s Simone talking about? Did something happen when I was on stage? I knew I shouldn’t have left you on your own.”
I could see he wasn’t going to let this go. “It’s nothing. While you were performing, some drunk guy fell on to me and was a little free with his hands. But I pushed him away and that was it. He carried on stumbling into everyone else in the bar.”
Daniel’s face hardened. “Where is he? Who was it? Point him out to me.”
“No, it’s alright. It’s done. He was just drunk and didn’t know what he was doing. I handled it already. It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine.”
The unusual shortness of his response had me taken aback. “Why isn’t it fine? I can take care of myself you know. I’m a fire goddess remember …”
Daniel interrupted abruptly. “Dammit Leila, would you stop saying that? I’m sick of it. I’m sick of this.”
People around us were turning to watch. This was not the place for this conversation. I took Daniel’s hand and pulled him away from the crowd, outside and away from the curious onlookers, down the beach beside a grove of coconut trees. “Would you just calm down? I don’t understand. What’s going on here? What are you sick of?”
He stared at me for several minutes, frustration at war with my plea for calm. “I love you and I am going to spend the rest of my life loving you, but do you know how it feels to know that your girlfriend can incinerate you on the spot? That she can summon a volcano or literally make the earth move beneath your feet?”
Horror and hurt choked me. “Don’t you know that I would never hurt you? Everything I am, everything that I have, all that I can do – it’s all nothing if I don’t have you.” I held out my hands helplessly. “This power, gift, curse, whatever you call it – I didn’t ask for it. I am a telesā without a sisterhood. My only covenant is with you. My fire is for you, always. To protect you and the ones that I love. Keep you safe. I would never hurt you. Please believe me.”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Daniel raged, and the ocean wind whipped his words about. “I don’t want you to safeguard me. I’m not a pathetic little boy who needs protection. I’m your boyfriend and I need to know you trust me to take care of you. And I don’t want you to be ‘Leila the Fire Goddess’ who goes around kicking ass all over town.” He nodded his head. “Yeah, that’s right, I heard about what happened today at the regatta when I wasn’t looking. When I wasn’t with you.” He mimicked her words, “When you told me, ‘Oh nothing happened. Don’t worry about me, I’m Leila the fire goddess.’ You lied to me. Again. What? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? That nobody would tell me?”
The onslaught continued. “Of course I heard about it. The boys just loved telling me about how my girlfriend jumped in and knocked down the captain of the Hawaiian outrigger team with some kind of Jet Li martial arts techniques. And you know what they loved even more? They were crazy-loving it when I told them, no that couldn’t be right, because my girlfriend never said anything about fighting anybody. My girlfriend doesn’t know any Jet Li stuff. Because if she did, she would have told me. Because I’m her boyfriend and that’s what people do when they love each other. They trust each other. They take care of each other. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Because you’re Leila the fire goddess.” He shook his head at me. “No, I can’t do this anymore, Leila.”
His tirade came to a sudden halt and we were two people standing beside a black ocean, divided by far more than the breeze that blew in from the velvet night. Now his voice was soft. “You’ve never really let me in.
Last year when we first met, you threw up so many barriers, you hated everybody and didn’t give people a chance. Then, just when I thought we were connecting, you got your powers and you shut me out of your life. I was out again, like that.” He snapped his fingers. “And then you let me in.” A smile at the memory. “We went to hell and back together, Leila. We literally shouted at death in the face. So why can’t you be honest with me now, about something as minor as a sleazy drunk? Or tell me why you felt you had to get involved in that fight at the regatta today?”
“I didn’t want to worry you, Daniel. It was nothing. I didn’t want you to get hurt or upset, so I just dealt with it.”
“You can’t keep doing that. You can’t attack guys who beat me in an outrigger race. Or spare me the gory details when some drunk guy mauls you. You can’t keep hiding things from me or lying to me about the bad stuff. You can’t keep protecting me. I get that you’re a fire goddess, Leila. I get that you’re always going to be stronger than me. But I’m still a man. Your man. And if you can’t give me that much respect, then this isn’t going to work.”
My shock turned to fury. “You’re damn straight this isn’t going to work. This is rubbish. This is about your over-inflated male ego getting bruised because I’m not some frilly, pouting girl who runs squealing to her boyfriend every time someone so much as looks at her funny. I will not pretend to be weak just to make you feel better.”
Daniel’s face was incredulous. “That’s not what I said.”
I didn’t give him the breath to continue. “Yes, I’m protective of the people I love, so what? You’re forgetting a crucial detail here. You died. I saw a gang of demonic spirit women tie you up, torture you, and then kill you. And I couldn’t do anything to stop them. All of my powers, all of my fire goddess mojo and all I could do was watch. Because of me, you died. And I’m always going to live with that. I don’t know what brought you back to me, but I’ve got you, so yeah, I’m never going to stop trying to protect you. And you can’t stop me.”
When Water Burns Page 16
