A Babban Gida Part 1 Complete Hausa Novel

“Maaa…ma…dii…diiiiiiiiiii…diiiina…ceeee!”
With that, she collapsed unconscious. Daddy and Laraba quickly rushed to her, both filled with questions.
Daddy himself lifted Hajjaty and laid her on the long sofa in the parlour. He gestured to Laraba to bring him water. When she returned and handed it to him, he then told her to take the strange girl whose name they did not know inside. He poured some water into his hand and rubbed it on the face of the unconscious Hajjaty. She let out a breath as she opened her eyes, trying to confirm what she had seen. Madina had returned to her.
Haltingly, she muttered, “Ya…U…dai…ta..ta…da…”
As for Zahrah, from the moment the old woman collapsed, her whole body had gone cold. Her heart had been uneasy from that very moment, and she felt all her courage melt away. Her only fear was that they might refuse to let her stay. If that happened, she had no one to rely on except Allah. After all, He had always been her only hope. It was through them that she had hoped Mama would be found, but now she no longer even had any assurance that they would keep her with them.
Laraba came and looked at her with great respect, because that was the custom in this house: no matter how young or small a person was, they had to be treated with respect.
“Young lady, Alhaji said I should take you to your room. Follow me.”
Zahrah stood up and followed behind Laraba. They walked through a long corridor, and when they got to the end, they stopped in front of a door. Zahrah could only stare. Laraba herself opened the room for her and said,
“Go in, wash up, and rest. Let me go and bring you something to eat.”
Zahrah nodded in reply and entered the room. The moment she stepped in, cool soothing air full of comfort and a sweet fragrance hit her. She closed her eyes and said,
“Allah really made this world with things to enjoy, as if no one will ever die!”
Then she set her Ghana-must-go bag aside and looked around the room again and again, for in all her life she had never seen anything like it. Even Ammin Badi’a’s house, which she used to think was beautiful, was not half as fine as this. She pouted as though she was about to cry.
“Poor Mama of mine, wherever are you? When will you come back to me?”
Zahrah began looking around for the door that would lead her to the toilet so she could wash up first. The moment she spotted one, she headed toward it.
When she entered the bathroom, she could hardly figure out how to use it, because she had never seen or used anything like it before. In short, Zahrah did not come out until she had touched almost everything inside, out of her usual curiosity. When she came out, she went to her Ghana-must-go bag and opened it. Among the clothes she had brought, there were quite a number of nice ones, especially the boubous she had brought along. From them, she took out an atampa blouse and skirt and wore them, then covered herself with a blue veil that matched the fabric.
She was smiling nonstop as though she had just been given glad tidings of Paradise. The sound of knocking made her adjust herself on the bed and say,
“Come in.”
She could barely hold back the laughter eating at her, just from the thought that today it was she who was giving permission for someone to enter. It was Laraba, carrying a tray with about four food flasks arranged on it, along with a jug and cup at the side, a plate, a spoon, a fork, and a knife.
Laraba placed it in front of Zahrah, but Zahrah acted as though she had not seen it until Laraba said,
“Here is your food, Hajiya.”
“Thank you,” she found herself replying.
It was not until she heard the sound of Laraba shutting the door that she got up from the bed and turned around. After about two seconds, she pulled the tray toward herself and sat on the soft carpet spread across the room. One after another, she opened the flasks, widening her eyes and licking her lips like a greedy witch.
“My, my! Today is a feast. Me, Zahrah, they actually brought all this food for me!”
she said, holding her cheek, then adjusted herself and began serving the food and eating. It was only after she was full that she pushed the tray aside, then poured some of the coconut juice in the jug into the cup and drank it. It had been a long time since she had eaten like that, so she ate until she was completely stuffed. After that, all that remained was sleep.
At noon too, Laraba brought her food in the same way. After eating, she prayed, then lay down.