CHAPTER 4

NO PEACE

My eyes popped open bright and early the next morning. I knew right away what day it was: Saturday.

I loved Saturdays. Our family called them Lazy Saturdays. Daddy and I were the early birds. We always got up first. Mama slept in because she worked late on Fridays. Nia and Tiana usually slept late too.

But this Saturday was going to be less lazy than usual. I had a tiger habitat to make! I made my plan before I got out of bed.

1. Eat cereal with Daddy, like always.
2. Watch one cartoon instead of three.
3. Paint the inside of my diorama box before everyone else wakes up.
4. Work on my tiger while the paint dries.

I crept to my door extra quietly, so Tiana wouldn’t wake up. I knew she would want to search for Greenie right away. That would ruin my morning plan.

But when I opened my door, I saw I had a big problem. Tiana was asleep on the floor. She was curled up, just like a cat, with her pillow and a blanket.

I tried to sneak past. But as soon as I stepped my first foot over, Tiana woke up.

“Hi, Azaleah!” she said. “Ready?”

I knew what she meant, but I said, “Ready for what?”

“To find Greenie,” she said. “You promised.”

I always kept my promises, but I had to stall. I was not ready, because I already had a plan. And I hadn’t even gotten to step one yet.

I had to think fast. Maybe I could add Tiana to steps one and two. Then I could sneak away while she watched cartoons.

“Let’s go eat and watch cartoons first,” I suggested. “Then we can look for Greenie.”

Tiana shook her head. “I want to look for Greenie now.”

I remembered what Mama always said: “Food feeds the body and the soul.” I just had to convince Tiana.

“If we eat first, we’ll have lots of energy,” I said. “Then we can find Greenie faster.”

“Faster?” asked Tiana.

I nodded.

“OK,” said Tiana.

We went to the kitchen. I expected to see Daddy at the table. He always drank his coffee and worked on his laptop until I got up.

But when I walked into the kitchen, I knew right away something was wrong. Daddy wasn’t wearing the black robe and matching slippers he always wore on Saturdays. He was wearing work clothes. His work bag was on the table. And he was pouring coffee into the mug he took to his office.

“Daddy? What are you doing?” I asked.

Daddy kissed me. Then he looked at Tiana and said, “Hey, pip-squeak.” He gave her a kiss too.

“Are you leaving?” I asked.

Daddy nodded. “Yeah. No cartoons for me today. I have to work on this case.”

“Oh,” I said. I felt bad for Daddy, but I also felt bad for mysef. My plan was really getting messed up.

Daddy got the cereal from the cabinet and handed it to me. Then he headed out the door.

As soon as he left, Tiana started to whine. She didn’t want cereal. She’d changed her mind about cartoons. All she wanted was Greenie.

I ate my cereal and walked to the family room to turn on the TV. I was determined to finish step two of my plan.

Mama and Nia were up now too. Mama was holding a paper, and Nia was standing in front of the TV. I knew right away that they were going over Nia’s lines. Mama had the script. If Nia forgot what to say, Mama would help her.

“Can I watch TV?” I asked.

Just then Tiana walked in, climbed on Mama’s lap, and said, “Can you help me find Greenie?”

“I’m trying to rehearse!” yelled Nia.

Mama said, “Nia, calm down. Azaleah, go help Tiana look for Greenie while we practice. Then when we’re done, you can watch TV.”

Nia stuck her tongue out at me. Tiana clapped. Mama smiled.

I didn’t have anything nice to say, so I decided not to say anything at all. Instead I fast-walked down the hall with Tiana right behind me. I sat on my bed. Saturday was already ruined.

“Where else could Greenie be?” Tiana asked.

I shrugged. I was out of ideas. We had already looked all over the house. Then it hit me: Maybe Greenie isn’t in the house.

“Tell me every single thing you did yesterday,” I said. “Start at the beginning.”

Tiana grinned. “First Auntie Sam let me and Kevin play at the park for a long time. Then we walked to the mailbox. Then we walked to Kevin’s house.” She took a breath. “Then we saw Mr. Givens in his front yard. Then it was nap time.”

I sighed. Great, I thought. Greenie could be anywhere. This is going to take all day.