Telesa - The Covenant Keeper (50 page)

“He’s beautiful, isn’t he?” The ice of her tone was accusatory.

“Who? What are you talking about?” my words sounded lame even to me.

She laughed without mirth. “Oh don’t pretend. You think I don’t know that you’re crazy about him? That you’re sick with longing for him? The whole school knows how pathetic you are over him.”

I looked at this angry, spiteful girl and saw her for what she was. I sighed. “What do you want Mele?”

Her features contorted, “I want you to stay away from Daniel. I want you to go back to where you came from. You don’t belong here. You’re not one of us. You can’t have Daniel, he doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

I smiled sadly. “Mele, I think Daniel’s old enough to decide what he wants. I’m pretty sure he can handle making his own decisions. And I know that he can speak for himself as well. Why don’t you just leave me alone? I’ve spent a lifetime in places where I don’t belong – and now I’m home.” As I said the words, I realized exultantly, that I meant them. It was true. I was home. Samoa was home. I had a huge smile of self-realization as I continued. “And Mele, nobody – especially not a jealous little girl like you – is going to drive me away from where I belong. Sorry!”

“I’ll make you sorry. Don’t you speak to me like that!” Mele’s reaction was swift. A vicious slap to my face. I’d felt worse, but she was wearing a ring and the metal caught cuttingly on the side of my mouth. I tasted blood on my lips. Heat flared threateningly, but it was a small matter to subdue it. This girl wasn’t worth a fire storm. I simply wiped the bead of blood from my lip. “Well, I hope you feel better now, because I won’t give you the opportunity to draw blood again. Now excuse me, I have a performance to get ready for.” I couldn’t resist the petty gibe. “You know, the one where Daniel sings about how much he’s in love with me?”

Dark eyes flashed dangerously and she raised her arm to hit me again, an arm that I grabbed in a vise-like grip, allowing ever so slightly, the flush of fire to heat up through my fingers. Skin heated uncomfortably, and Mele’s eyes widened in fear and pain. “Ow! What are you doing?” She struggled to pull away but was no match for my strength. I leaned forward to speak with steel softness in her ear.

“Don’t ever try to hit me again, do you hear me? No more threats, no more attitude. Stay out of my way, because, trust me, you have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

She pulled away, wincing as I released my grip, rubbing at the red welt on her arm. I could hear the announcement of our
taupou
presentation, so I quickly turned away from her, struggling to calm the rush of nerves as I took a deep breath, reaching up to check my
tuiga
was still on straight.

“It’s perfect.” Simone was by my side. “You look stunning. Now, don’t fall over and don’t forget to bow to all three sides of the audience, and try not to drop the dance knife, and don’t rush your moves, and remember to feel the words as Daniel sings them, and …”

I raised my hands in laughing protest. “Simone! Quit it, you’re making me a wreck with all those reminders. You’re not helping.”

He paused and put one defiant hand on his hip, “Fine then! No more words of wisdom from this supermodel. You go, girl.”

I peered from the tent out to the audience and breathed deeply again. Daniel walked out to take his position first. The stage had been set to represent a forest clearing with a pool in its center, ringed by burning flares, a cluster of rocks was where he would sit. He wore a mid-calf-length piece of
siapo
tied at the hips. His burnished chest was bare save for the single bone carving that hung around his neck. His whole body gleamed with glistening coconut oil and his tattoos spoke their story clearly in the moonlight. He was the noble warrior of every myth and legend and there was a hushed breath of awe before the audience rippled with applause, the more feisty among them whistling and catcalling.
Woohoo! Go Danny. Work it, baby, work it!

The appreciative noise died away as Daniel took his seat and picked up his guitar. The incomplete night waited for his voice. Daniel sang. And everyone was swept along in the story of his music. Even though I had heard it many times before, Daniel’s singing never failed to entrance me. If
telesa
’s gift was dance, his was song. It had a similar effect on one. It tugged on memories of a past you never knew you had, on a history you did not fully understand, on the power of an earth that you knew you would never completely comprehend. I was silenced by its beauty and Simone had to nudge me when the time drew near for me to enter.

“Leila get ready, you’re up.”

I took a deep breath and moved to position. Daniel’s solo came to a lingering finish and then the entire House started singing, blending their voices with his in an orchestra of worshipful harmony that called to the
taupou
to enter. This was it.
Here goes nothing, wherever you are Dad, it would sure be good if you sent some positive wishes my way.
I began the slow, graceful run of a
taupou
as she answers the call of the crowd. I was terror ridden, right up until I bowed to the audience, three times, as directed, and then allowed my hands to begin telling their story. Then, the fear was replaced by the fire. The joyous welcome of
Fanua
as she joined me in rejoicing in the dance. I wanted to laugh with the joy of it. I didn’t know why I had ever been afraid of this in the first place. I was
telesa
after all, and
telesa
were the creators of the
siva
.

I was only dimly aware of the applause from the crowd as I danced, of my aunty and uncle beaming proudly in the front row. My heart, breath, and soul were completely focused on the
siva
as it told its story as it listened to Daniel’s words and replied. His son delighted me with its expression of love, and then moved me to painful anguish as it spoke of loss and heartache. Too soon, the song ended, my dance came to its bittersweet finish. I bowed again and walked back to stand beside Daniel just like we had practiced, only this time, our hands found each other and the glances we gave each other were filled with meaning. We stood like that for a moment, with the rest of the house standing behind us in all their finery, united in our exultation of a successful performance. And this time, the crowd roared, people leapt to their feet to clap and cheer. Daniel and I were surrounded by a triumphant crowd of our friends and our clasped hands slipped apart.

 I clung to the memory of his look, the feel of his hand in mine for the remainder of the night. As Simone and Sinalei congratulated me wildly. As Mrs Lematua told everyone we were the best culture group she had ever worked with (Simone whispered narkily, “yeah, usually she’s in the losing house every year.”) As the judges announced that we were the year’s winners. As everyone cheered again and threw their flower leis in the air in triumph. And then groaned as the Principal requested the winning house to stay behind and clean up. Aunty Matile came to help me change out of my costume, carefully removing the tuiga and reverently packing the various items of jewellery into a voluminous bag. Uncle Tuala gruffly congratulated me with an awkward half hug and then both of them thanked Simone for all his help “teaching our Leila how to
siva
like a true Samoan girl.” Simone merely preened and accepted their compliments like the Queen that he was and I rolled my eyes at him from a safe distance.

“Aunty, is it alright if I stay to clean up with the others? And then, a group of us would like to go to McDonald’s to celebrate with a milkshake, would that be alright?” I asked anxiously. The one thing I missed from Nafanua’s house was the freedom to come and go as I pleased, and I had been trying very hard to make sure I did not fret at the bit too much with Matile and Tuala’s rules and curfews.

Auntie’s brow furrowed worriedly. “I don’t know, Leila, it’s getting late and we don’t like the idea of you out without someone to look after you. It’s not safe. Perhaps it’s best if you come home with us …” her sentence trailed away as she looked to Tuala for affirmation. I had given up on the idea of a milkshake with Simone, when a voice from behind us spoke.

“I would be happy to accompany Leila and make sure she gets home safely, Mrs Tuala.”

We all turned surprised eyes to see Daniel standing there looking every inch the mature and responsible Head Boy in a black formal
lavalava
and white
elei
dress shirt. Beside him stood his grandmother, regal in her blue puletasi.

Matile seemed flustered. “Oh, well, I’m not sure. You’re the boy with the beautiful singing voice tonight?”

I rushed in to capitalize on her fluster. “This is Daniel, Aunty, he’s the Head Boy of the school and the House Captain. And this is his grandmother Salamasina. Please, meet my aunty Matile and uncle Tuala.”

Everyone moved to shake hands and formalize the introductions, after which Matile and Salamasina chatted about the evening’s performance. Uncle Tuala nudged my shoulder with a wry smile as if to say,
nice move Leila, she can’t refuse you now that she’s met his grandmother can she?

Simone’s cheeky grin seemed to echo the same unspoken message. And, of course, they were right. Within minutes, Daniel, Simone, Sinalei, and I were all walking towards the parking lot with Matile’s generous farewells in our ears. “Have fun children! Be careful!” I was light-headed. Without quite knowing how it happened, I was going out on a ‘typical’ McDonald’s sundae double date. A bubble of laughter threatened to burst as I reflected on the weirdness of the scene though. Yes, there were two boys and two girls going for ice cream here, but one boy was a
fa’afafine
and one of us could melt ice cream with a thought …

At the car, Simone and Sinalei hopped into the back with unspoken assent, leaving me and Daniel in the front. It felt awkward. A little while ago our hearts had sung in unison for all to see, but now that the music had stopped we were left again with the reality – we were a boy and girl who hadn’t actually had a proper conversation for weeks now. I bit my lip in the darkness as Daniel focused his gaze on the road.

“Umm, so tonight was pretty awesome wasn’t it?” I tried for casual.

“Actually, I thought it was awful.”

His curt response cut me to the quick. “Oh.”

He gave me a quick sideways glance. “For me I mean. Not you. You were amazing out there. I’ve never seen anybody dance like you.”

“Oh. Thanks.” The silence was suffocating. I tried again. “I don’t think anybody was looking at the dancing though. Not when you were singing. You never told me you wrote your own music. Or that you could sing like that.” A hint of accusation crept into my voice.

He laughed softly but there was no joy in it. “Leila, there’s a lot of things we never got the chance to tell each other. Have you forgotten that this is the first time we’ve been alone in weeks? The first time we’ve actually had a conversation in ages? You know, when you’re not trying to run away from me or push me away.”

I stared at the dashboard and then couldn’t resist throwing a barb of my own. “Well, it didn’t seem to bother you much. I don’t know why you’re giving me a hard time about it, seeing as how you seem to be pretty busy and pretty happy with Mele these days.”

He jammed his foot on the brake and abruptly pulled the truck over to the side of the road. Simone and Sinalei called out at the sudden jolt. “Hey!” and he ignored them. Instead he turned off the ignition and turned in his seat so he was facing me. So I couldn’t evade his eyes. There was restrained anger in his voice.. “What the hell are you talking about? Me and Mele? I don’t think so. She’s my best friend’s girlfriend, remember? And besides, why would I even be thinking about anyone else when …” He broke off abruptly and turned away.

“When what?”

“When the only person I think about is you!” He almost shouted the words at me and I shrunk back against their force. “You told me to stay away from you, remember? And that’s what I’ve been trying to do. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop thinking about you. I’m turning into a stalker for goodness sake.”

I was confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that, every day for the last two months, I’ve been calling your house. Texting your phone. Driving up to Aleisa every other day and not even getting past the front gates, just listening to that woman, Netta, tell me on the intercom that you’re not there. You’re too busy – studying, working, doing I don’t know what. And then I see you and some guy in a red truck. The same guy that picked you up from school the other day. You told me that you didn’t want to be around me because it was ‘too dangerous.’ Obviously it’s not too dangerous for HIM to be around you.”

My protest was an indrawn breath. “No Daniel, it’s not like that. He’s a scientist here with a team of researchers studying volcanoes and Nafanua’s helping to finance their work. He’s been running tests on me, trying to figure out the science of this stuff. He’s going to find a cure for me. Make it go away so that I can be regular, normal. So that I won’t hurt people.” My voice died away. But in my mind I added,
So I can be with you. Kiss you, hug you, love you.

Daniel shook his head and continued like I hadn’t even spoken. “I know that I should just forget about you. That I should just take the huge hint and leave you alone. But then we get pushed into doing this culture item together and I have to sing to you, pour my heart out on stage and I hate it. I hate this. You. Me. Like this. I just don’t know what’s wrong with me. Believe me, I want to forget about you. The past month has been hell.”

I stared at him with shock. And pain. But any reply was halted by a banging from the back of the truck as Simone voiced his impatience.

“Would you two get a move on! We’re starving here and sitting in the back of a truck on the side of the road is NOT our idea of a celebration! Come on what’s going on? Let’s go.”

Daniel sighed impatiently and swiftly got the truck on and back on the road. His lips were set in a determined angry line and his every change of the gears spoke of his irritation. With me. With everything.