Tianna the Terrible (Anika Scott Series) Read Online Free Page B

weren't into smuggling." He laughed.
    I just stared at my feet. This was terrible.
    "Just kidding, just kidding," he said. "Smuggle all you want. Why should you be different from anyone else?" He looked up and raised his voice. "Tianna, come here and meet your smuggling cousin."
    She came over and stood about five feet away.
    "Tianna, this is Anika. Say hi," Uncle Kurt said, and then he left with Daddy.
    Tianna stared at me a second, then said "Hi" in a flat voice. Then she added, "Your dress is really gross."
    I clenched my fists and answered, "Well, so is your hair."
    "I like it this way," she said and walked off.
    Everybody was walking now, so I followed. At least Tianna hadn't noticed my forehead. Sandy was holding Mom's hand. I wished I was, too, but I was sure everyone was still mad about the tulips. I glared at Tianna's back. How could God give me such a terrible cousin?
    Calgary looked bare. There was almost no one walking and hardly anyone riding bicycles. There were people on bicycles everywhere in Kenya. Here, everybody was in clean, new-looking cars. Even the buses we saw were clean. They weren't anything like the dusty buses at home that were always packed full of people wearing bright clothes.
    I'd never seen so many houses packed together, either. They all looked almost the same. We turned off the huge road, then went down more roads with more houses, each on a little piece of grass. The house we finally stopped in front of was bigger than most of the others. I was so sleepy I hardly noticed what the inside of the house looked like on the way to bed.
    Loud voices woke me up.
    "It's none of your business where I was last night! You are not my keeper, Kurt. Or my boss, either, for that matter!"
    It was a woman yelling. Then she started swearing. Suddenly a man's voice broke in.
    "Shut up! Shut up! I'm your husband, and I won't have this!" It was Uncle Kurt.
    Sandy was sitting up in the other bed. Her eyes were wide and scared. "Is that Aunt Doreen?" she whispered.
    I shrugged and then nodded. Uncle Kurt had said he was her husband. It had to be her. She was still yelling.
    "Why? Don't you want me to swear while your goody-goody missionary sister is here? You swear well enough yourself most of the time."
    "Shut up!" Uncle Kurt bellowed again. "If you can't behave, get out!"
    "I will not. This is my house, and you can't tell me what to do. I don't hold with that nonsense that the husband can order his wife around. I'm a person, too, Kurt. Don't let any religious nonsense make you forget that."
    There was a slam, and then silence.
    "What time is it?" Sandy asked. "Are we supposed to get up?"
    We were in a bedroom with two beds. Everything was blue and white and ruffly. It was light outside.
    I said, "I don't know. I'm hungry."
    We both just stayed still, listening. "It must be morning," I said after a minute. "I smell bacon and coffee."
    Breakfast was very weird. Everyone pretended nothing had happened. Aunt Doreen was tall and thin. After hearing her yell, I thought she would look mean, but she just looked kind of sad.
    "Tianna, how about you and I take your cousins to the mall today," she said.
    "Mommm, it's Saturday." Tianna sounded irritated. "I'm supposed to meet Sharra and Janna this morning."
    "For once you can do something with me. You know I don't like you spending time with those kids anyway." I could tell Aunt Doreen was trying hard not to get mad again.
    Tianna rolled her eyes and started eating her pancake. Aunt Doreen went out to the kitchen. A second later Tianna went after her. I'd finished eating so I picked up my plate to clear it, but I stopped dead just before I got to the kitchen.
    "I won't go to the mall with those geeks, cousins or not!" Tianna was saying. "Did you see the clothes they had on yesterday? And what about what Anika's wearing this morning?"
    I backed away from the kitchen and went into the room where Sandy and I had slept. A minute later, Sandy came in. "Come on, you have to go to