tessa

i met tessa one summer after a mad beach bender. My friend ray from dawson creek was in victoria visiting his family and we went to willows beach in oak bay with a tub of gin and several cases of beer...then i woke up at moms with my niece abbygail on my chest. "i love you uncle joe, and you were funnny last night"
 More family from up north? Why did no one tell me? Oh well i'll clean up and we should go for breakfast! Oh no! The pocket my paycheck was in, in cash now, is gone ripped clean off. Check the others, no and no. after paying bills and rent and getting supplies the last tally was around 700 bucks. I have to go for a ride...right now. I'll be back, and out the door i go. On my little bike bump of whom ive written before to willows beach. Between tide and tourism there is no hope but i'll be dammed if i don't try.
 As i pull into the parking lot at the west end and start heading east someone calls my name. Allmighty hangover and bad attitude combine, i flip a bird and wheel on do my frantic scour of the far end of the beach and then give up, the morning sun is scorching hot and i really just want to curl up and die but my curiousity gets the best and i ride over to the young lady and toddler who called my name. Great a single mom...I just got out of a relationship with one of them. She introduces herself as Tessa. The cutest little blond 2 year old ever is Olive, her little sister. She was with Simone last week...."you tattooed her neck?" Oh yah, i remember now! Her and some friends are going camping at sombrio beach up island, would i be interested in coming? Oh hell ya i would. No kid, Cute as hell, likes to camp...i'm in. Trade numbers and im off.
 Well that was interesting i tell the family back at moms. Out 700 bucks but i'm going camping? My bro laughs, bright side joe!
 Funny side note we go to elk lake with abby and Chris's wife Elaina takes a picture of the three of us in the water facing away from shore. Mom, Chris and me. with shaved heads the resemblance is uncanny its like three russian dolls that nest inside each other but not round at all. Small to large broad shoulders and slender waists with long limbs, i saw a picture of grampa doing a handstand on a dock in cowichan bay when he was an olympic gymnast and am proud of the genes when i see this picture.
 Tessa pics me up in a blue oldsmobile on the weekend and we head out of town, making small talk i learn we're meeting either at china beach or sombrio so we may have to do some hiking to figure it out. I packed as though i was going camping my way which is on foot and ready for the worst so i say i'm in. We stop at goldstream to shop for some food and grab ice cream cones. Later i'll find out she's lactose intolerent. we also burn a reefer. Later i find out she doesn't burn reefers either. On the way out of sooke we see an old guy hitchhiking with an hour to go at least we decide adventure it is and pick him up. turns out to be pretty creepy and she when we stop at china beach to see if her friends are there its not sad saying goodbye to him. we shoulder our packs and head down the hill. there is no trail but the going is easy. large coastal ferns and cedar ground. Some yelling down the beach and no cars up top convince us that we're at the wrong beach so we headd back up. I have long legs and a lot of bushtime under my belt so i set a good pace going up the steep ground and am continuously suprised when i stop and shes right there with me. by the top we are both drenched in sweat and she suprises me by pulling out a puffer and hitting it. asthma? ya. i could have slowed down? No i love it, she says!
 Old guy is gone and as we drive on she informs me she was kinda driving like a jerk to scare him but shes only had her licence for a week so she more scared herself. Ive gotta laugh at that cause island roads are tight twisty and scary and she really isnt doing that bad at all.
 We get to sombrio and she recognizes several sets of wheels, we're here for sure, lock up and head out its about a 20 minute hike she says. the trail is good and steep its not long before my stride lenghtens and im running down it. suprise again, short stuff she may be but boom im passed and we cover the ground at mach speed running up the sides of corners and hopping logs like gazelles, short gazelle for her but still...wow! i'm smitten.we reach the beach findher friends some recognize as fernwood locals. Halley a chubby blond has been flirting with me for weeks of and on. Simone i tattooed last week. JD a dready hippy kid some other randoms... i set up my tent and as night comes and the fire grows a good time is had by all. Halley has no tent and wants into mine at the end of the night and im just enough of an ass to go for it. Tessa was going to crash in my tent but..... well you know. doesn't sleeps in a tree instead because jd is dancing naked round the fire and being creepy. i find out later they went out for over a year and it isnt really all that cool but for now it is just what it is to me.
 Breakfast and an invite to a hike with jd and tessa to a stream down the beach. noone else is in so its just the three of us and it turns out jd is in poor condition its not so bad going but after skinnny dipping in the creek and hanging out in the sun he's very slow on the way back so me and tessa end up running again. chasing her down the trail is a lot like following a pixie dust trail but my stride advantage makes it doable. we're almost back to the beach when she stops. "want to see something cool?" "sure" of course i do and we follow a small stream up int the bushes it turns into a narrow canyon covered in moss and ferns taller and taller then opens up at the end exposing a magic waterfall and pool combination. i resist the overwhelming urge to kiss her and later she tells me i really shouldnt have. but thats much later and really the moment still stands with such clarity and beauty that it doesnt really matter.
 We ended up seeing each other for close to 2 years before parting ways but i still tell the story as the best 700 bucks i ever lost, and she blushes still when i do.
  Simone thought i was cute so tessa invited me, i slept with halley and ended up with tessa. we are all still good friends and i dont regret losing the money in the least.
 Dont worry simone i'm sure i have a good story for you too.
xoxo
joe