Tianna the Terrible (Anika Scott Series) (9 page)

Tianna made a face, "That's gross. I don't want blood on me."

I laughed. "Not real blood, silly. Well, not exactly. See, sin causes pain and hurt and death. So if we sin, we should be punished, but Jesus loves us so much that he didn't want that. He let God punish him instead of us, and he even died for us. So it's like his blood kind of erases the sin off of us, because Jesus already paid for it." I paused. "We have to ask him to wash away our sins, though. He doesn't just do it to us. We have to decide to belong to him."

Tianna squirmed. "Come on, let's get out of here." She pulled my arm and headed for the back door.

"Wait a sec," I said. "I'll ask if I can go."

"You really are a goody-goody, aren't you?" she sneered, yanking on her jacket. "I'm going! If you want to come, come—but don't tell your parents. Or are you a tattletale, too? Come on!"

I just stood there trying to decide what to do. It was already dark out.

Tianna said, "Wimp!" and stuck out her tongue at me. Then she left, slamming the door.

Chapter Seven

I stared at the door, Tianna's angry words ringing in my ears. I frowned. Was I a wimp? I bit my lip and wondered where she was going. With a sigh, I went into my room to finish packing.

Later, Mom and Daddy came in to read the Bible with us. We did that every night. Most of the time Tianna had been coming, too.

"Where's Tianna, Anika?" Daddy asked.

I just shrugged without looking up. No matter what Tianna had said, I was no tattletale.

"I was looking forward to one last evening with her," Mom said. "She seems to be really interested in the things of God."

"Maybe she doesn't want to come tonight," I said. "She acted mad at supper."

Sandy had been teasing the kitten with a piece of shoestring as we talked. Now she blurted, "Please, can't we take Jake? He'll be sad without me, even if they do feed him."

Mom looked sad. "Sandy, you already know the answer to that. I'm a bit worried about Jake, too. How about if you pray for him?"

"Why pray for a kitten when Tianna is so upset?" I blurted. "People are more important."

Daddy nodded and said, "God cares for all the creatures he made, but you're right. We will certainly keep on praying for Tianna and her parents. I'm disappointed in how this visit has gone."

"It seems like we made it even worse for Tianna," I said.

"Why don't Uncle Kurt and Aunt Doreen just wise up!" Sandy said. "They're acting so awful."

"That's enough," said Daddy. He opened the Bible and started reading, "'When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! All these things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him… For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us!'"

I was half listening and half worrying about Tianna. What Daddy was reading said that we were supposed to bring God's message of peace to people. We sure hadn't done very well with Tianna's family.

That night I couldn't go to sleep. No one had even noticed Tianna was out of the house. I wondered where she was and listened for her to get back. I could hear the low hum of the furnace. Car lights swept across the room now and then. Sandy was breathing with little snores. After a while Mom, Daddy, and Uncle Kurt went into the living room. I could hear them talking.

"Well, Doreen is working late again, and I told her to be here tonight," Uncle Kurt said. "I thought maybe you could talk some sense into her."

Mom answered, and I leaned up on one elbow to hear better. "You can't make people be what you want them to be against their will, Kurt. Even God doesn't do that."

"Well, she ought to listen to me!" Uncle Kurt's voice rose. Daddy's answer was low and quiet, so I slipped out of bed and pushed the door open to hear better. Maybe he'd say something to make Uncle Kurt see that God thinks women are people, too. What Aunt Doreen had said about Jesus having no women disciples still bothered me. With all the rush of getting ready to leave, I hadn't remembered to ask about it.

"Christian leadership isn't that way, Kurt," Daddy was saying. "Christ gave up his life for us. Ephesians 5 says that husbands are to love their wives in the same way. It says that husbands should love their wives as though they were a part of themselves."

"I thought you would be on my side," Uncle Kurt said, sounding hurt and angry. "I thought you'd help me uphold traditional values in this family. Do you think Doreen is behaving properly, then?"

Mom spoke up, and she sounded irritated. "Kurt," she said. "How Doreen behaves has nothing to do with you. Her problems don't excuse your behavior. Your so-called 'traditional' values are pure destructive selfishness. You just want to be in charge and get your own way. That's not Christian at all. The Bible says we are to submit first to Christ, then to one another. We are to consider others' interests more important than our own. The husband is to lead for the benefit of his family."

"So now I'm not Christian!" Uncle Kurt half yelled. "I don't need to listen to this."

I could hear his heavy footsteps cross the floor, then the front door slammed. I thought I heard Mom crying, but I couldn't be sure.

I went back to bed, but I lay awake for ages. Thoughts tumbled around in my head. Worry for Tianna was all mixed up with being happy about going home. Everything was just sliding into a dream about skiing when I finally heard Tianna come in and go to her room. I kind of wanted to get up and talk to her, but I was too sleepy.

I didn't see her again before we left, because our plane left really early, and she didn't get up.

Uncle Kurt drove us to the airport, but he would hardly even talk to Mom and Daddy. Sandy was crying about leaving her kitten. I felt strange—happy to be going home and to be getting out of that house, but sad and scared for Tianna. Aunt Doreen's question was also still bothering me.

On the plane all four of us ended up in a row in the center seats. I was next to Daddy. As soon as we were off, I blurted, "How come Jesus didn't have any women disciples?"

Daddy laughed and said, "I want your mother in on this one. Hazel, did you hear the question?"

He repeated it, and Sandy said, "You were listening to Aunt Doreen! She told me that, too, but I didn't listen."

I made a face at Sandy and said, "Well, I want to know. Why didn't Jesus pick any women? Aunt Doreen said the Bible says women aren't as good as men."

"Never believe that!" Daddy said firmly. "All over the world and all through history, Christianity has made men see women as equal with them before God. In pagan societies, men often use their greater physical strength to force their women into roles of virtual slavery. The Bible warns men to treat women gently, as fellow-heirs of the faith. What's more, the Bible tells us that God values us all just the same, regardless of whether we're male or female."

"Yes," Mom added, "and did you know that Jesus used women as the first witnesses of his resurrection? That could be considered the single most important event in human history, and he chose women to be his witnesses at a time when they could not legally testify in court. Besides, as far as disciples go, there was a band of women who traveled with Jesus through his whole time of ministry. In fact, they were the ones who provided for Christ and his disciples. There were well-known women of God in the early church, too, such as Priscilla and Phoebe."

"But—but…" I stammered, surprised at the force of their answers. "How come people get so upset about women being preachers now, then?"

"People disagree about that," Daddy said. "Some think women should be free to take any position in the church. Others feel that some positions were meant for men. The disagreement has nothing to do with whether women are as good as men. It has to do with the roles God intended each of us to play. Men and women are equally important, but they are different."

"I'm glad!" said Sandy. "I'm not the same as any dumb boy!"

We laughed, but Mom said, "That's not the heart of the problem, you know. The real problem is attitude. God wants every one of his children to look for ways to serve. Instead, we grab for power and status. That's Kurt's problem, as well. Oth of bem in that thamily are doing that."

We all grinned, and Mom looked frustrated for a second, then she laughed, too. I was still confused. It was hard to figure out all that stuff about different roles for men and women, and how one isn't better than the other. Even so, I felt better inside. One thing I did understand was that I was a person to Jesus. He didn't care if I was a boy or a girl; he loved me no matter what.

When we landed at Nairobi Airport and got off the plane, the rush of African sounds and smells made me grin. Spicy dust, hot sunlight, the smell of diesel fuel, the song of birds, the sound of Swahili, the wide savanna sky—all of this seemed to be welcoming me home to the continent where I belonged.

Back at the mission station, it was hard to think much about Tianna. The whole trip to Canada didn't seem real. In fact, everything about the Malcomes and their problems seemed far away and unimportant.

All the other kids were back at school, so the station was really quiet. You see, most kids stayed at a boarding school in dorms for three months, then came home for one month. Sandy and I went to Valley Christian Academy boarding school because Mom and Daddy wanted us to have a good American education.

"Sandy and Anika, are you finished packing for school?" Mom said a couple of days later. "Daddy will be up here from the office in a minute, and we'll be ready to leave."

Just then, Daddy came up the hill from his office at a trot, waving something in his hand.

"Kevin, what on earth?" Mom asked. "What is it?"

"Anika, is this your doing?" Daddy demanded as soon as he got up to us.

I just looked at him with my mouth open. What did he mean? I hadn't done anything.

"This is a telegram from Kurt," Daddy said, waving it in my face. "It says Tianna will be here tomorrow."

"What?" I blurted. "Tianna here?"

"Yes. Kurt says that Tianna told him that we said she could come. Aunt Doreen left, and he has to go on a business trip, so he's sending her here."

"Doreen left?" Mom said. "Oh no!"

"Did you say that Tianna could come here?" Daddy asked again, staring straight at me.

I looked down.

"Well?" he demanded.

"She was so sad, so I said she could live with us," I said all in a rush. Then I paused and said, "I didn't think she'd ever really come. I mean, how could she without any money or anything?"

"What about Jake?" Sandy blurted.

"Never mind the kitten," Daddy said and turned to me again. "Don't ever do something like this again without talking to us first."

I hung my head and whispered, "Are you going to send her back?"

"Of course not," Mom said. "We can't turn her away. Besides, we don't want to. The last thing Tianna needs is more rejection. I only hope you're mature enough to be a help to her, Anika. This isn't going to be easy for any of us, especially you."

"What about school?" Sandy asked. "Are we still going today?"

Mom and Daddy looked at each other for a minute. Finally Daddy said, "I don't see why not. We'll have to decide what to do about Tianna's schooling when she gets here, but I don't see why either of you should miss another day."

"She wants to go to boarding school," I said slowly. The idea of having Tianna at Valley Christian Academy was gradually sinking in. I cringed inside.

"We'll have to see about that," Mom said. "Now let's get cracking. We want to get you there in time for supper."

Two hours later, Daddy drove down the hill toward my dorm. He was going to drop Sandy off last. I looked out the window anxiously. I could hardly wait to show Lisa my new Canadian clothes. Then I bit my lip. What if she already had other friends and didn't want me anymore? What about Muthoni and Amy? I'd kind of hung around with them last term. Would they remember me?

The car stopped, and I got out and stretched. Cool upland air, filled with the smell of cedar, surrounded me. I breathed deeply, and suddenly I was really excited to be back.

A bunch of kids came running out of the dorm. Lisa got to me first.

"Anika! Anika!" she yelled, running at me. "Mrs. Jackson said you were coming," she grabbed my arm. "I traded beds so you can have the bunk under me."

"How come y'all came back so soon?" Amy asked. Her parents are from Texas. Muthoni was right beside her. She had her hair done in these really neat cornrows.

It seemed like everyone was talking at once, so I couldn't even answer. I grinned and headed into the dorm.

Jackson dorm isn't really a dorm. It's a big house with two rooms at the back where all the fifth- and sixth-grade girls stay. Jacksons, the dorm parents, stay in the other end of the house.

Daddy, Mom, and Sandy helped haul my junk in. Of course, Mom said she'd be praying for me like she always says whenever they drop me off. There were quick hugs, and Mom and Daddy went to take Sandy to her dorm.