Auren Sirri Part 2 Complete Hausa Novel

Lekki — a quiet neighborhood
 
Lekki is a neighborhood with few residents — a silent place because it’s not usually noisy with people. It offers a pleasant, cool comfort thanks to its closeness to the sea. The area gathers many senior civil servants, skilled professionals and wealthy people; there are also plenty of “yahoo boys,” since many of them prefer to live there. Life in the neighborhood is enviable — everyone lives as if they were abroad.
 
PLASNUW ROWS FAMILY ESTATE
 
The estate is home to a large extended family: there is unity, cooperation and a peaceful way of life. There is no noise in this family; everyone you find is cheerful and content. There is deep mutual understanding among them. They are a close, loving family.
 
Late Alhaji Muhammed Bello Khaliyal was born in Lagos, but his origins are from the Khaliyal Fulani in Kebbi State. He was a well-known wealthy man who rose to prominence while the world was still calm. He lived a peaceful life; the late Muhammed Bello was a soldier who played a visible role in the nation. He held many positions at that time. He died leaving behind great wealth, children and grandchildren. The entire Muhammed Bello family had no poor person among them because they inherited large wealth from their father.
 
Before his death he was the head of the household and God blessed him with abundant wealth and relatives; he worked to improve the lives of his siblings and later built this large estate. He gathered his siblings to live there. He had four wives: Hajiya Shema’u, whom he married when she was young — she has twelve children (eight daughters and four sons); Hajiya Hauwa with ten children (five sons and five daughters); Hajiya Rabi with eight children (five sons and three daughters); and Hajiya Fatima, called Hajiya Shuwa, who has eight children (seven daughters and one son).
 
There is nothing missing in this estate: an Islamic school, play areas, football field, exercise spaces, a swimming pool, a library, and a large hall on the side arranged with curtains and seating. It was built for social gatherings that they hold at the end of every month.
 
They raised their children there with love. In this family the men chose wives and the women chose husbands; weddings were held inside the estate and the couples lived there with their families until old age, when the late Muhammed Bello retired. His sons and nephews continued to manage the estate. At that time only Aliyu and Habib remained unmarried because of their studies.
 
After the death of the late Bello, the inheritance was divided. Aliyu threw himself into multiplying his wealth; nothing mattered to him except making money. In a short time he rose, became famous, and stood out in the world. He enriched himself enormously — he owned many companies in Lagos and southern Nigeria, countless petrol stations, and even an airline (Aliyu Airlines). He had stakes in many international companies and owned houses in Abuja and other towns. His hunger for money meant he didn’t settle with a family early; his ambition was to marry a very beautiful and highly educated woman.
 
While pursuing his wealth he met Fadila in India. From that moment Aliyu set his sights on her — she was truly beautiful and very educated. Fadila was the second child in her family of three: Ahmed the eldest, then her, then Farida. Her parents initially objected to their marriage because Aliyu was an outsider and dark-skinned, but after much back-and-forth they agreed. When she came to Nigeria she fit into his family without trouble.
 
Fadila loved people and children; within a short time she bonded with Sulaiman and Mahmud (Aliyu’s nephews) and treated them like her own. They loved her and called her “Ummi.” She gave them everything they wanted and never held back, which won her extra affection from her in-laws.
 
Five years after their marriage Fadila’s mother died. When Fadila returned from India she brought her sister; Fadila looked after Mahmoud and kept caring for the family. After about eight years of marriage Fadila found happiness and acceptance with Aliyu’s family.
 
Fadila later gave birth to a son, Nasurudeen. Aliyu and the family loved Deeni (Nasurudeen) as if he were their breath; he was raised with special care and affection from his parents and the whole extended family. Deeni grew up privileged and adored — everyone knew that having Deeni around was a great blessing. But the first serious problem they noticed with Deeni was his lack of speech; at first Fadila thought it might be a stammer, but later realized it was simply a severe speech difficulty.
 
Among all the children in the estate, Deeni stood apart. He had no close friends and trusted no one; he was always with his mother — sometimes with Farida or Mahmoud. From early on he wanted to become a soldier and his mother supported him in that dream. Sometimes he would go and stare at the portrait of his late grandfather in the living room, gently touching the old man’s face and smiling. Deeni rarely showed joy or relaxed expression; his face often looked stern, almost fierce. When he was eight, when primary school ended for him, he was given admission forms to a military school. He faced no trouble getting in because of his father’s and grandfather’s status — unlike those without connections, for whom entry to a military school would be nearly impossible.
 
At another time Farida married inside the estate to a man who was also close to the late Muhammad Bello — Habib, who is a relative of Aliyu and the father of Deeni. Although Fadila initially showed strong disapproval and warned her sister against marrying Habib, the young woman declared that she loved him. Fadila reluctantly permitted it, albeit with reservations. She said she didn’t like Aliyu’s temperament; it wasn’t that she disliked him personally, but she disliked his character.
 
Habib was a senior, respected official — Director of Lands and Housing (and similar roles) for Lagos State. He had two wives and seven children; Farida was the third wife. Farida was very patient, and although her husband treated the family justly, she never complained to Ummi because she knew Ummi was not one to humiliate anyone.
 
The year Sulaiman and Mahmud married, Ummi’s husband — Alhaji Aliyu Muhammed Bello — passed away. His death shook Ummi deeply. After morning prayers he had been alone and suddenly became still with a handkerchief in his hand. At first Ummi thought he was merely sleeping; she tried to wake him and he lay motionless. When she checked his pulse and chest, she realized he was not breathing. Ummi fainted and was in deep shock during the mourning; she didn’t know what state she was in. When she came to, people prayed for her and she slowly recovered, but the loss affected her greatly.
 
After some time, Sulaiman and others continued to support Ummi and Deeni. At that time Farida was pregnant; Ummi did not know her daughter was in trouble until after the child was born. When the baby was born dead, Ummi saw the truth — despite the family’s wealth it seemed Habib was not careful with the family affairs; he had taken on more wives, his household had grown to four full wives. Ummi wept bitterly, feeling like she was wrapped in grief together with her relatives. She decided she would take action but knew how headstrong they were, so she grieved quietly with her sister and whispered that was why she had originally refused the marriage between her and Habib. Even so, Ummi pleaded with Habib to take care of Farida, since for her Farida had no one else in the whole of Nigeria. If he would not help, she said she would give him half her wealth and anything else he wanted; her only wish was that he would care for her sister. Habib smiled and said he would think about it.
 
Later Farida became pregnant again and, from when she was young, had suffered some difficulty. When Ummi returned Zeenat to her care, day and night there was hardship, but through God’s help Farida reached the point of childbirth and felt great pain during labor. When the child was born dead, the loss struck Habib profoundly; he cried as if his heart would break, for he knew he had suffered an irretrievable loss. He had lost a gentle, patient wife who knew the value of a husband. The grief of Ummi almost surpassed Habib’s for the death of her sister.