Kowa Ya Ga Zabuwa Book One Complete Hausa Novel
She closed her beautiful eyes, and I was overwhelmed with amazement at seeing someone like her living in such a difficult condition—although nothing about the power of the Almighty should ever truly surprise us.
Slowly, in a voice that clearly revealed how much she disliked unnecessary talking and noise, she said:
“Aisha, won’t he eventually get tired of us? Every day we keep going to him looking for firewood even though we are not buying it.”
The young girl’s face tightened as tears began streaming down her cheeks.
Trying to Prepare Something to Eat
The woman moved closer and sat on the small low stool nearby.
She collected the hand fan from Aisha and said:
“Don’t cry. Let me continue fanning the fire so that the water will boil. Then I can prepare the porridge for you to drink. Please be patient.”
Even the woman herself had very little strength left because of severe hunger.
Since the previous afternoon, when she drank the maize-and-tamarind porridge that had become their regular meal, she had not put anything else into her mouth apart from water.
And now it was already approaching eleven o’clock in the morning.
The child in her stomach kept moving restlessly from hunger, but she continued fanning the fire.
With great difficulty, she finally managed to get the water to boil.
Aisha had already mixed the maize flour with tamarind water because they had nothing else available to prepare it with.
The woman poured the mixture into the boiling water and continued stirring until the porridge became properly cooked.
A Meal Without Sugar
She removed the pot from the fire.
Aisha went into their tiny kitchen, which was surrounded by old zinc sheets that had become completely dark with age.
She returned carrying three old cups without handles.
There was no sugar to add because they did not have any, and there was no way they could afford it.
The woman poured the porridge into the cups.
She handed one cup to Aisha, covered her own and placed it aside, then picked up the third cup.
She walked towards the worn-out mat spread across the veranda.
Half of the veranda floor was broken, while the other half was bare cement.
Usmanu Is Seriously Ill
A fair-skinned boy who looked almost exactly like Aisha was lying there.
He also appeared to be no older than ten years old.
The woman gently lifted him and helped him sit upright.
His body was burning with intense heat from fever.
In a soft and caring voice, she said:
“Usmanu, get up and put something in your stomach, alright? Sorry, my child. Be strong for me, my son.”
With great difficulty, Usmanu managed to take only two sips.
Immediately afterwards, he vomited.
He began bringing up nothing but watery liquid because there was absolutely nothing inside his stomach.
Eventually, even the vomiting stopped and all he could do was retch painfully.
Her Desperate Hope for Yusuf
Hot tears streamed down the woman’s face.
Inside her heart, all she could do was pray that Allah would bring Yusuf to her.
She was determined to ask him for help.
She would beg him to do something so that their young boy would not lose his life while lying helplessly at home.
Even if Yusuf insulted her until those insults seemed permanently attached to her body, she did not care.
All that mattered to her was saving the child’s life.