All that day I couldn’t shake my apprehension for Teuila, thinking about her long ago confessions about hiding in her room while her mother had drunken-fuelled parties bad enough that Teuila’s fear would cause trees to fall on their house. I thought about how beautifully confident she looked on the night of the fashion show, how she had rallied our motley crew of models and how naturally she had modeled Simone’s Rainforest Woman design. There had to be something I could do to help her now. I sat and watched the evening news with Simone but my thoughts were a thousand miles away – until a news item caught my eye. The reporter was interviewing the leader of a science expedition in Tonga. They had recovered a plutonium-operated battery device that had been sitting in the Tongan Trench for over thirty years – and then, someone had stolen it.
The camera zeroed in on the American being interviewed, “This is a security threat of massive proportions. We cannot emphasize enough, how important it is that the RTG be safely returned to us. If the protective casing is cracked or ruptured in any way then there is the possibility of leakage and fire damage.We don’t wish people to be alarmed though. It is not a nuclear reactor and does not rely on fusion or fission processes. We are not talking about a nuclear bomb here.”
An eager reporter interrupted, “Isn’t it true that ingesting only one milligram of plutonium is enough to kill a person?”
The American sighed, obviously used to such dramatic statements. “Yes, that is true. But I highly doubt that anyone is going to walk up to an RTG and take a bite out of it. The alpha radiation emitted will not penetrate the skin and as long as nobody cracks open the RTG casket, then it will be fine.”
Still not satisfied, the reporter tried again, “Can the plutonium in an RTG be used to make a nuclear weapon?”
“No. The RTG uses Pu-238. The same properties that make it a desirable fuel source make it useless in nuclear weapons. It very rarely may spontaneously fission. Pu-238 generates heat and so that makes it an unsuitable option for a thermonuclear weapon.” He hesitated, “But, theoretically it could be used in a radiological or what they call a ‘dirty’ bomb.”
“Can you explain that for our viewers, please?”
“It’s a bomb that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The primary aim of such a weapon is to contaminate the area around the explosion with radioactive material, hence the term ‘dirty’. But that’s mere speculation.”
And now the reporter was almost gleeful. “Isn’t that the main concern here, with the missing RTG? That some terrorist group may have stolen it to make exactly the kind of dirty bomb that you’re describing?”
The American looked exasperated, “That’s all pure speculation and entirely unhelpful to the current situation. Suffice it to say, there’s a NASA-owned battery device missing and we need it back.” He stared directly into the camera for this, “The RTG may have sustained damage during its thirty plus years underwater. It could be leaking. If it’s not safely contained then it could be a serious hazard. That is all.”
The program cut to a commercial and almost immediately, my phone went. Daniel. “Did you see that on the news?” His voice was tense and low. “Salamasina is going ballistic over here. She’s not making any sense. She says it’s Sarona. She wants to put us on the first plane out of here. She thinks it’s all connected somehow with Sarona wanting to get back at you. Crazy right?”
“Definitely crazy,” I agreed. Plutonium and me. No connection whatsoever.
Ten minutes later, my phone went again. This time it was Mrs. Amani. “Leila, Teuila’s missing. She’s been gone since yesterday. Her mother just called me, thinking that maybe Teuila had come here. She’s frantic with worry. I think Teuila may have run away from home.” She hesitated, “Has she showed up at your house?”
“No, but I’ll look out for her.”
I grabbed my car keys and was headed out the door when the phone rang. Again. Simone raised an eyebrow at all the cellular activity. “You’re unusually popular tonight. So many friends, I’m jealous.”
But it wasn’t a friend. A calm, cool, and collected voice spoke, “Hello Leila. This is Sarona. Listen very carefully. I’m calling from Tonga. I have a little friend of yours with me. Teuila. She has a most interesting ability, one I’ve never encountered before. And one that I’m very much looking forward to studying.”
I caught my breath. “Don’t you dare hurt her.”
Sarona was ice. “Be quiet. You’re not the one giving the orders here. Not anymore. Now, this is what you are going to do. Your mother left you something in her will besides the money that belonged to me. A particular bone carving. You will bring it to Tonga. There’s a flight leaving in the morning. When you get to Nukualofa, I will phone you with further instructions. If you’re not on that flight tomorrow, I will kill the girl. Perhaps I’ll have Keahi set her on fire.” A low, musical laugh. “That’s right. He’s here too. And I’m enjoying his company very much.” Her tone sharpened, “Did you hear me, Leila?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Oh, and bring your boyfriend with you too. He and I have unfinished business.” The phone went dead. A second later it beeped as a photograph arrived in my inbox. I opened the image. It was Teuila. Standing against a rock face, facing the camera, unsmiling, with Sarona by her side. Sarona wasn’t lying. She did have Teuila.
One of Grandmother Folger’s favorite sayings had always been that a lady does not give in to her emotions, especially in times of trial. “When in the middle of a crisis, Leila, always remember, that is when you most need to focus, remain calm, and be at your most dignified.” I thought about that as I called the airline after-hours number and booked two tickets to Tonga. And carefully walked back to my room, grabbed my backpack, and started packing a few essentials. Yes, I would need my toothbrush. And a change of clothes. My face wash? Nah, Dad says soap will do for everything. I was calm, focused, and even dignified. Grandmother Folger would have been proud of me. With a bag packed, I had to try to remember where I had put the box the lawyer had given me six months ago. So annoyed with my mother and the contents of her will, not to mention seriously freaked out by my encounter with Sarona, I had chucked the box in my suitcase without even opening it. I dug it up now and opened it. Disinterested and impassive, all my emotions locked away behind calm, dignified walls. In the box was a chunky oblong bone carving engraved with ornate designs. It was as long as my forearm and about the same width as my closed fist. Clearly this was not a necklace. I studied it closer. The carving did not seem to be complete. One end of it curved inward as if missing an interlocking piece. I packed it away into my backpack and took a moment finally, to think about this new development and try to make sense of it. I needed to tell Daniel about this but first, so many questions whipped and writhed in my brain like eels caught in a trap.
What was this bone carving for and why did Sarona want it? Why Tonga? Why take Teuila all the way over there and why make me follow? What did she have in store for me and Daniel? I had no illusions – I knew there would be no fair trades conducted. The only thing I was one hundred percent sure of was that Sarona wanted me dead. I wondered, how did she find out about Teuila’s unusual Gift? Even I had barely sensed it. And come to think of it, how had Sarona known about Keahi and his Gift? I had only told two people about Keahi and Teuila. I had confided in Daniel.
And Jason. But Jason wouldn’t have told Sarona anything. He wouldn’t have told anybody about our conversations. Except maybe his fiancé. The girl who had swept him off his feet.
The truth slammed me then. Sudden and violent. In that sickening moment, I knew with perfect clarity where I had seen that look before. The one that Jason always had when he talked about Lesina. When he looked at her. When she walked into a room. No, please no. With all my heart I wished for it not to be true. The heart that loved Jason like the big brother I never had.
I leapt to my feet and opened my desk drawer where I kept my important things. Like pictures of my dad. I searched thro
ugh photographs of us together, standing at the finish line of a fun run. With fishing rods on a grey beach. Where was it? And then I found it. The picture that Grandmother Folger had sent me last year – of a striking woman gazing at the camera, defying it to capture her beauty, holding a baby on her lap with careless ease. And beside her, a sandy-haired, brown-eyed man who stared at that beautiful woman with the same expression that Jason gave Lesina. Complete and utter longing. It’s not difficult to brew a love potion if you have all the ingredients and the telesā know-how. I wanted to vomit. Instead, I ran to the Jeep and revved it to a roar out the front gate as I went in search of the truth.
At Jason’s house, I had to bang on the front door for what seemed like an eternity before he finally opened it. The look on his face frightened me. He was a man bereft. Lost. His eyes barely flickered in recognition. “Hi Leila.”
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“I don’t know.” He opened the door wide.
I followed him in. “Where’s Lesina? I need to talk to her.”
“Lesina’s gone. She’s left me.”
It is a terrible thing to see a broken man. To hear the emptiness in his voice. And feel the depth of confusion in him as he struggles to make sense of his pain. “I can’t understand it. Everything was going so well. We had scheduled a trip home to California so she could meet my family. And then I find this. What does she mean, ‘ask Leila.’ What is this all about?” He showed me the brief note. As cutting in its simplicity as it was telling.
I can’t be with you anymore. I’m sorry. I’m not the girl you think I am. I never was and I never can be. Ask Leila to explain what I mean when I tell you – that I am telesā and we do not love.
I looked at Jason with my heart in my eyes. A thousand stars died and a millennium of perfect moments fragmented for him with these words. “I’m so sorry. If I had known sooner, I swear I would have told you. I would have done something or said something. Anything to stop this from happening.”
He was bewildered. “I don’t get it. How could she be telesā? And if she was, why did she keep it a secret from me? I love her. I wouldn’t have let that stop me from wanting to spend the rest of my life with her.”
I took a deep breath, “Jason, telesā are known for many things and their skill with plant medicines is one of them. A long time ago, Nafanua used a very special concoction on my father, a love potion if you will. I don’t know much about such things, but I think it is used to cloud the senses, warp one’s judgment, and cast a man into an infatuated state. Nafanua used one on my father. When I first met Daniel, Salamasina worried that I had used a love potion on him. I think that Lesina used one on you.”
His eyes flashed dangerously. “No, that’s impossible. I love her. I know my feelings, and I’m telling you that I love Lesina and her love for me is real.” He came to an abrupt halt, as if aware of how hollow his words sounded as we sat there in his desolate house confronted by her letter of farewell. “I don’t believe you. I won’t believe you.”
I was gentle, “How else do you explain how quickly you two moved from falling in love to being engaged and planning forever together? It was all too fast, too rushed, too impossible.”
And now he spoke with anger. “You’ve never liked her. You don’t know her like I do. I can’t believe that of her. I won’t. Maybe you should leave.”
“You’re hurting, Jason, and I understand that.” I stood to go. “You should know. I’ve heard from my mother’s sister who tried to kill us all last year.” Quickly I summarized the situation for him. “I think Lesina is working for Sarona. Tomorrow, I’m going to Tonga. And when I see Lesina, I’m going to make her pay for what she’s done to you.”
And with those final words, I left his house. Tears blurred my vision and I had to pull the Jeep over to the side of the road so I could stop my crying enough to safely drive to Daniel’s house. One look at my face and he had me in his arms. “Leila? What’s wrong.”
In the safety of his arms, I cried. For Jason. For the unfairness of a world where a good man with a sincere and generous heart could have the misfortune to have loved not one but two telesā in a single lifetime. And then to be betrayed in the worst possible way like this? I poured everything out to Daniel.
He held me and listened, and when I was done, he tried to comfort me. “This is not your fault. This is Sarona’s doing. All of it.”
I asked, “I hate to ask you this, but I promised you I would always walk with you and not keep things from you – will you go with me to Tonga?”
He gave me a sardonic expression, “You couldn’t stop me from going, even if you tried.”
Salamasina hated our plan. Of course. She argued, pleaded, and reasoned with him, but Daniel did not waver. “This is something Leila and I have to do. Together.” So Salamasina said she was going with us. That was when Daniel put his foot down and the son became the authority figure. “No Mama. I won’t allow you to come. I am vasa loloa and Leila is fanua afi. We can defend ourselves and protect each other.”
I showed Salamasina the bone carving that Sarona wanted, hoping she would know of its significance. “Do you think it’s a piece of the Covenant Bone you told us about in the legend?”
She shook her head, “I have no idea. My mother Tavake would know. She is the only telesā who knows what the Bone is supposed to look like.”
It was getting late, and our flight to Nukualofa was at nine in the morning. I said good night to Salamasina, and Daniel walked me to the car, where I clung to his strength one more time. “I hate myself for saying this – but I’m scared. Not so much for me, but for all of us and what might happen. I’m scared that we won’t save Teuila, that we won’t be strong enough for whatever Sarona has prepared. I’m just scared.”
He raised up my face so he could look me in the eyes, “So am I. But I know that as long as we’re together on this, everything will be alright. We will endure.” The kiss he gave me was slow and tender and bittersweet. What if this was the last time I would kiss Daniel within reach of the sound of the Samoan ocean?
Early the next morning, I had one more huge obstacle to clear before I could even think about getting on a plane for Tonga to face off against a telesā matagi and her assorted team of Gifted ones. I had to explain to Simone where I was going and why. It didn’t feel right to lie to him but I also didn’t want to put his life in danger by revealing too much, so I was deliberately vague. Simone listened to my rather nebulous explanation of my and Daniel’s trip to Tonga, with a raised eyebrow.
“So let me get this straight. You and Daniel are flying to an undisclosed island location in Tonga, for an unknown period of time, to deal with some unmentionable problem that may or not involve danger? Is that it?”
I was relieved at how succinct it sounded. “Yes! That’s it.” I smiled.
He frowned. “You two aren’t running off to get married, are you?”
I exclaimed, “No. Of course not.”
“You better not be. Not in those clothes. And not without me to design your wedding dress.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nobody is getting married.”
“Right.” A pensive look, “This possible danger that you mentioned, would it have anything to do with the fact that you can set parts of your body on fire and not get burnt?”
I winced, “Yeah, kind of. I just can’t get into too much detail about it because the fewer people who know about it, the fewer people will get hurt. If that makes any sense.”
“Okay. You go to Tonga with Daniel. And be careful, alright? I kind of like having you around.”
“I’ll be careful.” A grin, “And yes, I know you would miss me desperately if I didn’t come back.”
I was halfway out the door when Simone called out to me, “Oh, Leila, just one thing more.”
I turned back and met a super sober and concerned expression, “If something bad does happen and you don’t make it back?” A deep breath, “Can I please have your Louboutin shoes?”
Simone’s farewell kept me smiling all the way to the airport with Daniel. Until I saw a familiar face standing in the check-in line.
“Jason, what are you doing here?” I demanded.
He gave us a tight smile, “I’m going with you to Tonga. If what you say is true, then Lesina will be there with Sarona, and I need to talk to her.”
“This is not a good idea. This trip could be very dangerous for all of us. And what makes you think that Lesina will talk to you?”
Daniel nudged me warningly and gave me be quiet eyes from behind Jason’s back. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because nothing was going to sway Jason from this trip. “I’m going to Tonga – with or without you Leila, so deal with it.”
The hour and a half flight to Nukualofa gave me time to ‘deal with it.’ It also gave Daniel time to give me a whispered lecture about crossing the boundaries of friendship. “He’s having a hard enough time dealing with this as it is.He doesn’t need you getting on his case. Let him be.”
“But this is stupid. It’s obvious that Lesina has been using him all along. To get to me, to spy on him – whatever. She used him and betrayed him and he still wants to chase after her so they can talk?”
“Haven’t you ever done something stupid for love?” He was teasing, but his eyes were deadly serious and that shut me up immediately. I didn’t say it, but in my heart I cried. Because I was pretty sure that Lesina had used a love potion on Jason – which meant that whatever he was feeling, it couldn’t possibly be real love. Could it?
Once we were off the plane and through Customs in Nukualofa, the reality of what we were here for started to sink in. The town was beautiful – a smaller, slower-paced version of Apia but exuberant with color and an abundance of friendliness from the locals. “So where to now?” asked Jason as we stood and watched traffic go by. Slowly.
When Water Burns Page 31