Telesa - The Covenant Keeper

by Lani Wendt Young

  I was busy expertly zapping a plate generously heaped with dinner in the microwave as he pulled up a seat at the bench top. “Oh yeah, Netta does the cooking and I think she forgets we’re not a household crawling with twenty million extended family. You should see what she made last night – a hunk of roast pig … hmm … some of that should be still in here too, let me see.”

  Within minutes I had Jason set up with enough food to feed a small army and he was digging in with great enthusiasm. I sat and watched, nibbling on coconut cookies, laughing as he attacked the pork, licking his fingers. “You should come over every night, we always have tons of leftovers and its terribly wasteful all the food that sits around in this house.” Inwardly, I winced as I realized how the invitation sounded and I hurried to qualify it. “In fact there’s probably enough food here for your whole team, where are the others anyway? And what are you doing here on Upolu?”

  “They’re all back at the camp. I came over this morning to do our grocery shopping and uplift some gear that came on the boat for us, then I went surfing and kinda missed the ferry back.”

  His cheeky grin had me guessing that the missed boat had been deliberate.“Surfing? Where do you do that?”

  “Oh there’s some good spots out on the south coast, my favorite is just past Salani Surf Resort, caught some sweet barrels today. Do you surf?”

  “Who me? No. Never tried it. Back home we lived in Maryland so not much surfing opps there. And then here, I’ve never been to the beach here.”

  He looked horrified. “What!? That’s just sinful. How could you be on an island and not get to the beach yet?”

  I laughed at his shock. “Well, I’ve only been in Samoa for a few months you know and I’ve been kinda busy with a new school and … stuff. Besides, when I first moved here I stayed with my aunt and uncle and they were intensely strict. They didn’t want me going anywhere.”

  He frowned. “That must have been rough.”

  I shook my head. “No, it was okay, they were just worried about me. They were really sweet actually.” As I rushed to defend them, a pang of sadness cut me as I realized that I missed them. I resolved to go visit them this weekend and smiled as I thought about Aunty Matile’s grouchy face and how she would struggle not to smile if I gave her a hug.

  Jason helped himself to some more shrimps. “These are really good. I don’t know how you can have such a hot body when you’re eating all this stuff every day.” He continued on talking about his day but I was momentarily disconcerted by his reference to my figure. Nobody had ever commented on my looks in such blunt terms and I wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or annoyed. But as he rattled on about food, surfing, and more surfing, I shook off the moment as I realized he hadn’t been making a play for me. I was fast realizing this man had nothing to hide, he was straight forward and up front. He said what he thought and didn’t stop to analyze it first. There were no secret agendas.

  “So you wanna try it?”

  “Try what?”

  He looked exasperated. “Leila don’t be ditzy. Have you been paying attention to anything I’ve been saying? Surfing, do you wanna try it?” I had to smile at his eager expression.

  “Okay, I’d love to.” I couldn’t resist the dig. “But are you sure you’re qualified to be my teacher? I mean, you being such a bimbo and all and not to mention you’re kinda ancient to be standing up on a board in the middle of the ocean aren’t you?”

  He narrowed his eyes and got up to clear away his empty plate. “Little girl, you are soooo going to regret that.” He spread his arms out expansively. “I’ll have you know that you’re looking at the two time surf champion of Rosewood Beach Surf Club. Standing right here in your kitchen eating leftovers!”

  I was impressed. “Wow, okay that’s impressive. What’s the Rosewood Beach Surf Club?”

  He grinned the cheeky grin that seemed to be his trademark. It always seemed to tug an answering smile from me whether I wanted it to or not. “Actually, the club is made up of a grand total of six of my buddies – all at the science faculty – that surf in our spare time. So the term ‘champion’ is kinda relative but I’m still a surf champ and I have the two beer can trophies to prove it!” He struck a surfing pose on a dining table chair and had me laughing. Again.

  “Okay, okay, I’m convinced, I shall take surf lessons from a master and be extremely humbled with the opportunity and I shall pay you with Netta’s dinner leftovers. Anytime you’re in town, you will have to come by and get fed.”

  With that settled, Jason proceeded to clean up his mess before plonking himself down on the sofa. “So what homework were you slaving over before I got here?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Calculus. A mild nightmare for me, especially since the Math teacher is quite horrible.”

  “Want me to give you a hand? I’m not too bad at Math. I had to do a little bit here and there – you know, while I was finishing my advanced science program and being the youngest person ever to graduate with a PhD in geophysics from my university.” He sighed with exaggerated modesty and adopted a bored expression.

  I had to laugh. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Let me go grab my stuff from upstairs. I’ll be right back.”

  The next hour flew by as Jason went through the Calculus problems with me. He was a good teacher who managed to make the most complex equations simple. It was going on 10:30 when we finished. Jason stretched out wide, “All done! I guess I better get going. I didn’t mean to bother you so late.”

  I had a pang of disappointment at the thought of him leaving. The time had gone by so fast and without a single reminder that I was a telesā walking on the edge of fire at every moment. I didn’t want the evening to end. Suddenly, the house seemed constricting. If Jason hadn’t been there, I would have gone for a flame-driven run through the forest but instead, the thought of swimming in a moonlit ocean sounded just as appealing. I stopped him on the way to the front door. “I know, why don’t we go now?”

  He was confused. “Go where?”

  “Surfing. Let’s go now. Can we do that?”

  He shrugged. “Well yeah, we can, but it’s late. What will your mom say?”

  I was up and lightly running up the stairs before the words were even all out of his mouth. I threw back a flippant reply over my shoulder. “Oh, she doesn’t care what I do. I’ll text her. We could have wild sex upstairs and it wouldn’t bother her. Let me just grab my stuff.” It was too late to take back the thoughtless words or to check even how he had taken them but with a rush of excitement, I didn’t care. I was thrilled to be getting out. The spur of the moment mood reminded me of my dad and I deciding what road trip to take on a long weekend. I couldn’t wait to get out into the night.

  I wriggled into the two-piece suit Nafanua had bought me that I had never even bothered to try on and threw a cotton tee and shorts over it. A towel and jandals and I was ready, fingers sending a quick text to Nafanua. Goin surfin w/Jason. I was back downstairs when the reply beeped through. Hav fun. I was triumphant as I showed it to Jason. “See! What did I tell you. She’s not bugged. Come on, let’s go. Bye Netta!” I yelled out to the quiet house.

  Still somewhat bemused, Jason followed me to the red truck. A board glistened in the back cab. “So your mom just lets you go wherever? Whenever? I don’t know much about Samoa but I’m pretty sure that’s kinda unusual for a Samoan parent?”

  I smiled at him in the dark interior of the truck as we drove down the long flame tree-lined drive. “Nafanua’s not a regular Samoan mother. And I’m not a regular Samoan daughter. Remember we didn’t even know each other until a little while ago. Besides, I’m eighteen and used to doing my own thing. Even when my dad was alive, I was on my own a lot while he travelled for work.” I didn’t want to dwell on the sadness of the past, not on this most thrilling of moonlit nights. “So how long does it take to get to Siumu?”

  “About half an hour.” Jason was still unwilling to let my mother-daughter relationship go. “So how come you two didn�
��t know each other anyway?”

  Quickly, I briefed him on the bare necessities of information about Nafanua and I, leaving out, of course, the bits about telesā and the small detail of my propensity to burst into flame when I got mad. Or when a boy kissed me.

  The drive to Siumu was fun. I pestered Jason for details about his volcano work and about his background. He was one of six children in his family and I was intrigued by his stories about what life was like when you were never alone. Always squabbling. Sharing a room. A car. Sharing clothes. Sharing a mom and a dad. It sounded heavenly and I sighed the sigh of an only child when they compare the cheerful madness of a crowded household with their own solitary upbringing.

  It was 11:30 when we got to the beach, bumping down a rough sandy track through breathing forest. We came out to sand painted white in the moonlight and an ocean shimmering with black diamonds. Jason tugged his shirt over his head before lifting the surfboard out of the truck. His toned physique didn’t fit my stereotypical image of a scientist and I tried not to let my surprised eyes linger on the rugged arms with their tan line, or the way the contours of his chest looked in the moonlight. Suddenly I was self-conscious. Up to this point I had seen him just as a funny, easy-to-be-with boy, kind of the way I imagined an older brother would be. But, as I watched him walk easily down to the water’s edge and into the gentle swells, I saw him for what he really was. A twenty-five-year-old man, Professor of Tectonic Science, leader of a team expedition, and disturbingly striking to look at in the ocean light.

  I gritted my teeth. Ugh. This feeling was not one I wanted. I liked being relaxed and laid back with Jason. I wanted him to stay locked in the ‘big-brother’ zone. Relax Leila – so he’s kinda cute and sporting a rather hot body, so what. He can be your super-hot big brother. Determinedly, I pulled off my t-shirt and ran to join him in the water. It was surprisingly cool, “Yikes! It’s cold.”

  Jason laughed as he began swimming through the deeper water. “No it’s not. Don’t be a wuss. Okay, get over here and let’s get you started with your first lesson.”

  An hour later I had learned several things I didn’t know before. Surfing was really hard. Standing up on a board that is determined to slip away from under you is kind of scary. And falling down in water starts to hurt when you get to the twentieth time. Oh, and having a surf tutor who insists on laughing at you every time you fall over is really annoying.

  “Would you quit it?”

  “Quit what?” Artificial innocence.

  “That! Laughing. Teasing me. I’m sure I would do heaps better if you weren’t making fun of me the whole time. ” I was getting more sour by the minute. “You know, if a student totally sucks then they usually hold the teacher responsible.”

  He paused beside me in the black water and regarded me speculatively, as if gauging the magnitude of my mood. I scowled while he grinned hugely and nudged my shoulder. “Come on Leila, don’t be so grumpy, everybody falls off on their first try and I can’t help laughing. You should see yourself up there. You get this psycho serious look on your face and then it changes to complete panic just before you fall off. And when you come up out of the water, you’re so mad. It’s really cute. Come on, relax, why do you have to be so intense about everything? Can’t you just have fun with it?”

  I fought to stay mad and failed. “Cute huh?”

  Jason smiled and his brilliant blue eyes demanded a response. “Yeah. In a freakishly psycho sort of way.”

  I relented and let an answering smile break free. “Okay, let’s do it again.”

  The lesson continued and after another ten minutes and three more faulty, wavering tries, I was able to stay standing up long enough for the board to actually move along with a small wave for a few feet. I let out a shout. “Yes! Woohoo!”

  Right before the damn thing slipped out from under me and I was down, only, this time as I went under the water, something hard slammed the side of my head. I tried to say ‘ouch,’ only to suck in a huge gulp of seawater. Flailing and spluttering, there was an instant of panic before Jason’s hands gripped my arms and pulled me up. Through my coughing, I could hear the worry in his voice, “Hey, are you okay? Leila?”

  I wiped the salt out of my eyes and looked at him ruefully. “Yeah, but my head doesn’t feel so good. I think the board may have hit me when I went down.” I gingerly reached up to feel my temple. “Ow.”

  Jason still had a firm hold on me and, without hesitation, he started towing me back in to shore, pulling the board. “Come on, let’s get you up to the beach, I think that’s enough surfing for one night.”

  We sank onto the sand and my wobbly legs were feeling the effects of an hour of trying to balance on the board. Jason sat beside me and together we caught our breath. He turned to peer closely at my forehead. “Let me see, hmm yeah you have a bump there but it doesn’t look too bad. It didn’t break the skin or anything. You’ll be fine.”

  Our shoulders were touching, his fingers were gentle on my head and I could taste the closeness of him in the slight breeze. Droplets of ocean beaded his chest, catching fire in the moonlight. He glistened with silver wetness and I had to force my gaze somewhere else. “Oh, so you’re a doctor now are you?”

  He laughed his ever-present laugh and dusted sand from his hands. “Well hello, I do have a PhD, which basically qualifies me to have a super intelligent opinion on everything. Seriously though, are you feeling okay?”

  I hastened to reassure him. “Yeah, I’m fine. But I’m tired; I had no idea surfing was so much work, well, trying to surf anyway!”

  “Hey you didn’t do too badly. Next time I bet you’ll only fall down fifty times.”

  I slugged him lightly on the shoulder as we slowly made our way back to the truck. I was tired but it was a good tiredness. Every muscle ached but, for the last two hours, I had been more relaxed and free than I had felt in a long time. I struggled to keep my eyes open on the drive home and was startled awake when the truck growled to a stop outside the big white house. Lights still gleamed in the living room. Jason walked me up to the door.

  “Thanks, I had a good time.”

  “Even with a tormenting, teasing teacher?”

  I gave him an answering grin, pausing in the doorway. “Yeah. I don’t know if I would nominate you as instructor of the year, but I guess you’ll do.”

  “So do you want another lesson tomorrow night?”

  I smiled, “Don’t you have to go back to Matavanu tomorrow?”

  A shrug, “Yeah, but I can come back on the last boat. And you can feed me some more of Netta’s amazing leftovers and then have your second lesson.”

  “Okay, I’d like that. Let’s do it.”

  He ran lightly down the steps to the car, pausing to turn back once more. “Hey, don’t forget to put some ice on that bump, just in case.” And with that final reminder, he was in the truck and taking off down the drive.

  

  The weekend turned out to be one of the best I’d had since moving to Samoa. In the morning, Nafanua and the sisterhood took me with them to a massive forest fire that was raging out of control on the other side of the island. Every fire-fighting team on the island was there, struggling to contain the blaze that had consumed over a hundred acres of forest. We drove to a section of the fire where there were no witnesses and took a two-pronged approach to the battle. Nafanua and Sarona summoned rain while Manuia and the others used wind to try and redirect the movement of the flames. There was no way I could control such a huge mass of energy but slowly and steadily I worked alongside the others to channel and subdue various sections of the fire. It took most of the day before the fire was under control and we could slip away and leave the rest to the firefighters. I was exhausted but exultant. It had felt amazing to use my gift to help. For good. As we celebrated back at the house with chilled lemonade and sandwiches, I looked around at the other telesā and felt happy to be one with them. Today was a good day to be a telesā.

  That night, Jason took me
for another surf lesson and, this time, I was almost able to understand the thrill of it as I spent more time standing up then falling down. We didn’t get back to the house until two in the morning and both of us were buzzed with my progress.