Telesa - The Covenant Keeper

by Lani Wendt Young

  “No – I mean yes. I want to. Sure. We can hang out. Today. I’ll do it. No problem. I don’t mind.” I shrugged casually, but my hands were clenched tightly on my book bag.

  His answering smile was beautiful. “Great. I’m parked at the back by the tennis courts. I’ll meet you there after school. You remember the green bomb right?”

  Without waiting for a reply, he turned and sprinted lightly down the now empty hall. Leaving me shaken. And late for class.

  

  The rest of the school day dragged and it was a welcome relief when we were finally dismissed. I made my way to the green truck in the student car park area where Daniel was waiting for me. In the car, he produced a red cloth. “Here. Blindfold. Put it on.”

  “Excuse me? Are you nuts?” My voice rose several octaves. “Just what kind of afternoon did you have in mind?”

  He laughed, shaking his head at me as he started the car and reversed. “No. It’s nothing like that. I don’t want you to know where we’re going. It’s a surprise. Please. Trust me?”

  The thought of what my grandmother’s reply would be was enough to get me tying on the blindfold. “Okay. But it better be a good surprise. And don’t forget, I’m the girl who knows how to kung-fu-kick-your-butt outta here!”

  His laughter was my only reply. We drove like that in companionable silence for a few minutes, the car grating over potholes and going uphill. The suspense was killing me. I tried questions, “So where are we going?”

  “Patience. You’ll see. We’re almost there. You’ll love it. Trust me.”

  “Why the blindfold? You know I’m new and have no idea where anything is anyway so anywhere would be a surprise.”

  He laughed softly. “I just don’t want you to know where we’re going. Enough with the questions already!”

  I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a sense of peace sitting beside this red and gold stranger. Instinctively, I knew that the boy who had sat and held me in the weeping night was not a threat to me. Rather, there was an indefinable closeness, an intimacy that I could not explain. Could not capture with mere words. I knew him. Somehow. And I knew that I would always be safe with him.

  The truck grating to a sharp halt broke my reverie.

  “We’re here. Wait, I’ll come over and help you out. It’s not time yet to take off the blindfold.”

  The sound of the car door opening and closing had me tensing. The darkness was comforting. But only when he was right beside me. Thankfully, I only had to sit alone in the front seat for a few moments and then he had my door open and his hand was on mine. “Here, take my hand and I’ll guide you. There’s a few rocks to get through. Watch out.”

  His hand on mine burned my skin and had my pulse pounding again. Feeling very exposed without my sight, my tone was sharper than I planned it to be. “Well, I can’t watch out can I?” I sniffed the air, listening intently to my surroundings, trying to find some clues as to our location. The air was … cooler? Quieter. There was no sound of rushing traffic. Only the rustle of leaves and grass in the wind. And birds calling. And … far away, very slightly, was that the ripple of water?

  His body next to me, slowly walking me through the grass distracted me from my detective work. He was so close to me that I could taste his scent, the warmth of his skin against mine. He had one arm on my shoulders, the other holding my hand. His voice was a hot breath against my cheek as he replied.

  “You can snap all you want but it’s still not time to take off the blindfold. Now, I’m going to have to carry you here because there’s too many rocks. Hold on.”

  Without warning, I felt myself swung up and into his strong arms. I shrieked in protest. “Hey! Wait up – noooo you never said anything about this bit, put me down Daniel.”

  Being carried when you can’t see anything is terribly disconcerting. You can’t tell where up or down is and you have no concept of how far off the ground you are. I clutched my hands around his neck tightly. “Daniel – put me down. Daniel – that does it, I’m taking off the blindfold.”

  Before I could carry out my threat, he placed me back on the ground, steadying me with his hands, a gentle touch on my waist. “There you go. We’re here. Be quiet. Listen. What can you hear?” His voice was a hushed whisper against my cheek and I shivered involuntarily at his closeness. In my darkness I could ‘see’ him standing behind me, his hands on my waist, his head bent to whisper in my ear.

  He had to repeat his question before I could focus. “What can you hear Leila?”

  I wanted to reply. I can hear my heart singing. I can hear your voice filling my world and I never want it to end. But I didn’t. Instead, I stood poised in the darkness and listened. “Water. I hear water. On rocks. And grass in the wind. And birds. And what is that heavenly smell?”

  Overwhelmed with curiosity I ripped off the blindfold and gasped at the sight before me.

  We were standing in a green blanket. Tall grass blended with darker green bushes. Branches heavily laden with white flowers formed a circle around us. In front of me was a stream of clear water that danced over mossy black rocks, forming a small pool before trailing away through the grass. Spangled above us was the deep blue sky but the scorching gold sun was sheltered by a mountain rise. We were standing somewhere in the mountains, nestled in a green room. Nothing but sky, forest, the white ginger plants, water, and us. It was so achingly beautiful that I hated to breathe. But the fragrance of the white flowers enticed me to breathe deeply. I took a step forward and picked one blossom, and savored its perfume.

  “Daniel – it’s perfect. Perfect.”

  With eyes only for me, his reply was quiet.

  “Well … now it is.”

  I was too flushed with the beauty of the surroundings to try to decipher his reply.

  I turned to face him, a huge foolish smile on my face.

  “Where are we? Surely we’re not still in town? We must be high up – it’s cooler here and the water …” My voice trailed away as I carefully made my way to the water’s edge. Kneeling on slippery wet rocks, I leaned over and trailed my fingers in the rippling shimmer.

  “Yikes! It’s cold. Yes!” I couldn’t stop the bubble of laughter that pealed. For a girl used to Washington winters and the temperate air, it was pure heaven to escape, even so briefly, the sauna-like humidity I had been stifling in for the past month. Without thinking, I took off my shoes and waded into the cold stream, taking several steps before sitting down on a rock jutting from the center.

  I motioned to the water. “I wish I’d brought something to swim in – the water is so cold. I love it.”

  Standing across the water from me, his eyes flashed with laughter. “As I recall, that didn’t stop you the other night …” his voice trailed away suggestively.

  Remembering my outfit the night he had come across me unawares had me flushed with embarrassment. I narrowed my eyes at him. “And as I recall, I warned you what would happen if you gave me any hassle about that. I was hoping you would forget about that, thank you very much!”

  He held his hands out in supplication. “Okay, okay … I’m backing off oh-Miss-Jet-Li-Supreme Kung-Fu-Maestro!” the same golden laugh sending heat up my spine. “But I gotta warn you, there’s some things a guy can’t forget.”

  I didn’t think he was talking about my death and mayhem threats but I deliberately misunderstood him. With my legs dangled in the delicious water, I yelled back at him.

  “Well, I’m happy to give you a demonstration of my Jet Li skills if you need more reminders!”

  “Nope, I’ll take your word for it thanks.” Shaking his head, he bent to sit on a rock directly opposite me across the silver water, arms hugging his legs. For a few minutes we sat in companionable silence. Just rippling water on rock, wind through rushing grass and the occasional bird call. I felt myself relax, every tense fiber unwinding in the peace of a perfect Samoan afternoon. There had never been a person that I could just sit and BE with. Without the need to talk. Fill the gaps. F
or some reason, there didn’t seem to be any gaps between me and this strange boy full of contradictions. I stole a glance at him. He had his arms leant back against the bank of the stream now, head facing the sun, eyes closed. He had taken his uniform off in the truck and a white singlet hugged the curve of his chest, the tattoo boldly curling down his arm. Black rugby shorts only covered the top of his thighs, leaving the tattoo on his calf muscle clearly exposed. I craned my neck trying to decipher the symbols that ran down his leg. Just then, he opened his eyes and crinkled them in amusement as he saw what I was trying to do.

  “What are you looking at?”

  Caught, I flushed guiltily.

  “Umm, nothing … I was just thinking.”

  He sat forward, his grin unconvinced with my answer.

  “Okay, so what were you thinking about then?”

  I scrambled for a credible answer.

  “Umm … you.” I winced as I heard how raw that sounded. “Your note said you were trying to figure me out but you’re kinda difficult to figure out yourself.”

  His furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, like – you’re this sports machine – built like the Terminator but at the same time you’re intensely focused on your schoolwork. And you’re like a … demi-god to the other boys at school who all want to be you, so you should be brash and rough and trample all over feelings and stuff but the other night, at the pool, you were so … umm … so kind and you know how to listen to people which hardly anybody knows how to do and look at this place, it’s so beautiful and you bring me here blindfolded and it’s a lovely surprise and … I just can’t figure you out …” My voice trailed away as I realized I may have revealed too much. I looked away, fearful of what his response to my confession might be.

  “I guess that makes two of us then.” His tone was light but then it took on an incredulous turn “Okay, Terminator? And demi-god? Not sure what the heck is going on with those descriptors there! And about me being ‘brash and rough and trampling all over people’ – that’s what you’ve been accusing me of ever since you arrived. I didn’t even get a chance to show you how horrible I could be before you had decided that I was racist, sexist, oh and let’s not forget – potential rapist.”

  I cringed. “That sounds bad, really bad. I guess I have been a bit quick to classify you.” I snuck a glance his way.

  He grinned. “You think?! I’ve never met anybody so defensive, so ready to launch into offensive mode. Are you used to getting trashed back home or something?”

  The conversation had swung back too far into my personal space. I was confused how we had gone from my observations of him to all of a sudden delving into my patchy past. The last thing I wanted was to dim this outing by talking about my horrible American school nightmares. I shrugged and tried for smooth evasion.

  “Nah, just prickly I guess. Hey, I think there’s crayfish in here! Look at that.”

  Daniel stood to navigate over the rocks and join me. Together we bent to peer into the sparkling diamond water. Spidery translucent shrimp scuttled for safety as we reached to shift pebbles and grass.

  “Yeah they’re kinda cute. Maybe we should catch some, do you like to eat shrimp?” Daniel’s smile was catching even as I shook my head resolutely.

  “No we can’t eat them! You just said they were cute.”

  “That doesn’t mean we can’t eat em. There’s heaps of cute things that get eaten all the time. Besides, then you can add mean cruel animal abuser to your list of my sins.”

  I groaned as I sat back down on the warm rocks. “Okay, okay enough with the list of sins already. I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I promise I won’t jump to conclusions about you anymore. I will only ever think something bad about you if you make it impossible not to.”

  He laughed again as he sat beside me. This boy seemed to be happy all the time I thought fleetingly. I wonder what it would be like to be so happy.

  He interrupted me. “There you go again, thinking.”

  “So I’m not allowed to think now?”

  “No – I mean yes, I mean you get that look on your face like you’re thinking of something far away and you’re not really here. You get that same look during Geography sometimes.”

  I didn’t know how to respond. Especially not to the revelation that he had been looking at me during Geography. Another shrug.

  “Oh, well hey, Mrs. Jasmine can be boring sometimes.”

  He feigned mock horror. “How could you say that, Geography isn’t boring!”

  “You’re just saying that because you’re Mrs. Jasmine’s pet. She totally adores you, it’s disgusting.”

  He was quick with a retort, “You’re just jealous cos she doesn’t love your map calculations as much as she loves mine.”

  And that’s how the rest of the afternoon went. Sitting on the rock in the middle of shimmering water, we talked. About school. About sports. About books. And TV shows. And music. And we laughed. And he kept teasing me. And I laughed some more. He made it easy. Comfortable. To be happy. To feel light hearted.

  It was with unwillingness that I took stock of the time. Quarter to five. Matile and Tuala would be home soon and wondering where I was. And what I was doing.

  “I have to get back. We better go.” I looked around for one more lingering look at this magical pool. This haven of happiness. Who knew when I would be here again? Daniel stood, giving me his hand to help me up. It was the first time he had touched me in the entire two hours we had been sitting there and it sent a rush of fire through me, so powerful that I worried he would feel it. I hoped desperately that I wasn’t going to have a heat attack, not now.

  He didn’t see my nervous expression as he turned to find a foothold through the dancing waters. Still he didn’t release my hand. As heat waved through me, I should have pulled away, but didn’t want to. I loved my hand in his. It felt … right. Like it belonged there. I took several deep breaths as we waded through the water and up the bank. Stay calm Leila. The grass was slippery and his grip tightened on mine as he pulled me up after him. At the top I almost fell into him and for a brief instant, we were breathing in the same breath, the length of his body against mine. His gaze was searching as he looked down at me, intent and steady. I couldn’t breathe as I looked up at him. Green eyes were chiseled emeralds cut into his profile. But as quickly as the moment started, it passed. He smiled and released my hand to reach in his pocket for the blindfold.

  “What?! What do I need that for? I’ve already seen the surprise.” My hands on my hips.

  “Yes, and now I want you to put it back on for the return trip. That way, you won’t ever know where I brought you. It will stay a hidden special place. And you – and I – will know, that the only way you can come back here, is with me.”

  His eyes danced, but he was perfectly serious. I flushed at the sweetness of it all. His intent – so unexpected – had me speechless. I stood passively while he secured the blindfold and took my hand in his again to guide me back to the car. I was quiet as I slowly followed his lead through the grass. Forever now, there would be a somewhat magical place. That only he and I had experienced together. A secret that only he and I would share. A niggling thought crossed my mind … as long as he didn’t bring another girl here … or maybe he already had. The thought left grimy paw prints on my happiness and I was quiet on the ride home. Once back in town, he gave me permission to remove the blindfold.

  Noticing my silence, he queried. “Hey, are you okay? What are you thinking about?”

  “Just wondering, Daniel, how did you know about that place?” I battled to keep the suspicion out of my voice. His uncensored, swift reply went a long way towards stilling my unease.

  “My grandmother. She goes there to pick the ginger plants – she says they’re better because the water is so clean there. And there’s less pollution in the air. She used to take me with her when I was younger. I had to carry the basket while she picked the plants. I gotta say, I didn’t much enjoy trailin
g after her. Not half as much as I enjoyed hanging out there today.” His eyes were trained resolutely on the traffic ahead of him, oblivious to my singing joy.

  “So do you always take your friends there?” Stumbling over the term friends, hesitant whether or not we were even that

  “No. I’ve never taken anywhere there before.”

  “Oh.” The shortness of his reply had me stumbling for thought. I felt him steal a glance in my direction. I bit the side of my lip and wished I had more experience with talking. To humans. My dad was the only person I had ever been comfortable with. Him and plants had been my sole conversation. The car drew up to Aunty Matile’s box house too soon for my liking. I got out reluctantly, shutting the door with a finality that I hated.