Tianna the Terrible (Anika Scott Series) (16 page)

I stood there for a second waiting for an answer, but Sabrina didn't move. Finally I said, "Um, you were moaning, so your wrist must hurt. We'll get Mrs. Jackson. Come on, Tianna."

Mrs. Jackson came, and we went back to bed. Just before I went to sleep, I asked God to help me learn to be nice to Sabrina. It was a big request, but I figured he could do it. All I had to do was go along with it…

After breakfast, on the way up to school, Amy and Muthoni got Tianna between them. "Hey, I heard you last night talking to Sabrina. She didn't even answer!"

Tianna shrugged.

They kept talking, and I ended up walking behind them with Lisa. She grinned at me and said, "Welcome back, O Crocodile Woman."

I laughed and shoved her. She shoved back. We were both giggling, and I felt great. Lisa was super.

Just then Esther Miller came tearing up. She stopped a little ways off.

"Anika, Tianna, come here," she said, hanging back.

I looked at Lisa, shrugged, and followed Tianna over.

"Look, Sabrina said to say she was sorry for being so mean," Esther said and looked back over her shoulder. Then she went on, "She even said that you don't have to pay for the unicorn. Um, look, I'm sorry about taking one of your drawers, too. OK?"

"OK," I said. Tianna nodded, and Esther ran off again. We looked at each other and grinned. This was turning out to be a great day.

That night I couldn't go to sleep. I kept thinking about that broken unicorn. I squirmed, then punched at my pillow to make it more comfortable. I could still see the unicorn in my mind, its delicate beauty lying broken in Sabrina's hand. I wondered if it really cost as much as she had said. What if Sabrina had been lying?

I rolled over with a jerk. The bunk bed squeaked and wiggled. My sheets were all tangled up.

"Hold still!" Tianna hissed.

I frowned and tried to hold still. A lump in the sheet was right under my shoulder blade. Sabrina had
said
I didn't have to pay her. Besides, I didn't have thirty bucks. Still, it bugged me. Finally I decided to write to Mom and Daddy and ask them what to do. I went to sleep trying to plan the letter.

Writing that letter wasn't easy, especially when it came to telling Mom and Daddy about how I'd lost my temper. I felt way better when it was done and mailed, though.

"What
is
this stuff?" Tianna asked, poking her spoon into the thick gray porridge in her bowl that Friday at breakfast.

"Glue," said Lisa, laughing.

Tianna made a face. "Let's go to McDonald's and get an Egg McMuffin, OK?"

"Don't I wish!" said Lisa with a dreamy look on her face. "I'd get hash browns, an English muffin, and—"

"Stop it! I can't stand it!" Tianna said and started to shake all over. "I'm going into terminal McDonald's withdrawal."

We were still giggling by the time we got to school. We were just starting social studies when the secretary stuck her head in the door. "Could you send Tianna and Anika out?" she said. "There's someone here to see them."

We looked at each other, then stood up and went out. I couldn't figure out who could want to see just us two in the middle of a school day. We reached the office, then stood staring in amazement.

"Dad?" said Tianna.

It was Uncle Kurt!

He took a big step toward Tianna and gave her a huge hug, then grabbed her by the shoulders. He seemed all choked up and started talking real fast. "Tianna, I'm sorry—sorry for all the ways I've messed things up. I didn't know how much I needed you 'til I got back from my trip to an empty house. It was awful—too quiet and lonely. Look, your mom won't come back to me—but I hope maybe you will." She stood there, looking kind of stiff, staring at him with her mouth open.

"Oh, I know it hasn't been great lately, but things will be different. I promise. I called Kevin and Hazel from the airport and found out you were here, so I rented a car and came straight here."

"Uncle Kurt," I interrupted. "Tianna is a Christian now."

Uncle Kurt glanced at me, then looked back at Tianna, "That's OK with me. You can go to church. I'll even come with you if that's what you want. I never knew how much I needed my family until I didn't have you with me."

She still just stood there, so he said, "I did some thinking about what Kevin said, too. So look, I won't make you come. You can decide for yourself. Kevin and Hazel already said you could stay here. Go on with you, back into class. I'll drive down to see Kevin and Hazel, and you can let me know tomorrow."

Tianna was quiet all the rest of the day.

"What do you think she'll decide?" Lisa asked me when we were walking to the dorm after supper.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Would you go back now if you could?"

"If Mom and Dad did? Sure!" she said and laughed. "Big Macs, here I come!"

I looked out at the huge sweep of sky over the volcanoes in the Rift Valley and said, "You're crazy!"

Mom and Daddy came up with Uncle Kurt the next day. They took Sandy and me and Tianna down to Thompsons' farm for a picnic. They'd even brought samosas. I bit into one of the spicy little triangles and thought,
Who needs McDonald's?

I was just going to ask Mom if they'd gotten my letter about Sabrina's unicorn when she handed me the money.

"Your father and I agreed that you should pay for what you broke," she said. "You'll have to work for us to earn this money next vacation, OK?"

I nodded and started to say OK when Tianna suddenly blurted, "I decided."

We all looked at her.

"I'm going home with Dad." She looked at me anxiously and said, "It's not that I don't like you guys. It's just that I belong with Dad, and if I stayed here it would be kind of running away."

Everybody immediately started talking about plans, packing, and tickets.

"Kurt," Mom interrupted after a little while. "I hope you'll find a good church and go with Tianna."

"I intend to do just that, but I'm not sure where," he said seriously.

"Call John Ibbotson," Mom said. "He pastors a warm and friendly church where they teach God's Word."

Uncle Kurt looked thoughtful, nodded, then got up to call the airport about flights.

Mom turned to Tianna and said, "Tianna, if you want to survive as God's child, you have to stick with God's family. Even if your dad doesn't take you to church, you can go on your own. It would be good for you to try to find Christian friends at school, too."

Tianna nodded, and I wondered what it would be like for her. I thought of Sharra, and how Tianna skipped school to go to the mall, and how she had spent so much time being sent to the principal for swearing. I wondered if Uncle Kurt had really changed or if he would start acting selfish and super bossy again. I sighed. It wasn't going to be easy for them, that was for sure.

Uncle Kurt found out they had to either get a flight out that night or wait for two weeks.

"You better get packed if you're coming!" he told Tianna with a grin.

"Uncle Kurt," Sandy said as we hurried to finish the picnic. "Did you really take Jake back to the Parkers'?"

"Jake?" Uncle Kurt asked, sounding puzzled. Then he said, "Oh, you mean the kitten. Yeah, I took him back. Don't worry, he's fine." He turned to Tianna and said, "We can go get him back again if you want."

Tianna grinned and started to nod, but then she frowned. "He probably wouldn't like being my kitten. He didn't like me much before, and he'd have to be all by himself in the house so much." She looked really sad.

Mom touched her shoulder and said, "Why don't you ask the Parkers for two kittens? That way they'd have each other to play with all day. And they'll learn to trust you if you show them you care by how you act."

Uncle Kurt chuckled and said, "Kind of like being a parent, isn't it? Do you think we can handle it, Tianna?"

Tianna grinned and hugged him. My eyes felt kind of teary. It was the first time I'd ever seen her hug her dad.

We cut the picnic short and went back to VCA to pack up Tianna's junk.

"Are you going to be really OK now?" I asked her when we were by ourselves for a second.

She shrugged and said, "Better than before. Like, then I thought nobody wanted me at all. Now I know that Dad really wants me. I mean, he came all the way to Africa to get me. And you guys want me. But the best part is that God wants me."

"Hey, you don't even have a Bible, do you? Except that one Mrs. Jackson lent you." I grabbed mine from the dresser and shoved it into her bag. "Here, only you have to read it. Promise?"

She laughed, "OK, I promise."

A few minutes later Sandy and I and half of the kids in Jackson dorm were waving at Tianna, her dad, and my parents as they pulled out. Tianna's hair was all messy and in her eyes as she turned to wave.

But she was smiling.