Siradin Ukuba Part 1 Complete Hausa Novel

These were children ranging from sixteen years old down to those who were almost thirty. There was a lot of noise and activity among them: some were playing, some were chatting, some were even arguing. Others were with their parents, helping them with the small chores that are never lacking in a home. Some were gathered around an elderly woman, who appeared to be their grandmother, as she told them folktales and they laughed.
Then from one corner, I saw her. She was a young girl who could not have been less than thirteen years old. She was dark-skinned, tall, and very thin. She was wearing an old long gown made of atampa fabric, and her head was tied with a scarf that looked as worn out as the rest of her. Neither she nor her clothes showed any sign of bathing or washing. She was leaning against a mango tree nearby, drifting off into sleep in complete peace.
Baba Hari, one of her uncles’ wives who was said to be looking after her, shook her head in annoyance and said, “This useless girl, if it is a matter of doing something that will bring insults upon us, she knows every possible way to make people look down on us in disgrace. If it is not humiliation and wicked behavior, then what is the meaning of this fake sleep again?” She then nudged her hard with her foot, and immediately the girl woke up in fright, still heavy with sleep. Baba Hari stepped on her again, saying, “You wretched girl with the same evil character as your mother, get up and go lie down somewhere else before you bring trouble upon me.”
Gwaggo Sarai turned toward them and said, “You too, Harira, you always exaggerate everything. Apart from mischief, who does not know that UMMIYO has the sleeping sickness of the ground itself?”
Harira replied, “So now they should say I left an orphan to be humiliated? As for me, watching over my own children is enough for me. I have nothing to do with the scattered children of other people.”
Sarai burst into laughter as she watched Ummiyo staggering toward Baba Atine’s room, walking unsteadily. They all knew the depth of her sleep. If she was awakened in that state, she could wander even outside without knowing it. Suwaiba said, “May Allah make her run into Atine, so she can be dealt with by her.”
Harira replied, “Let her run into her then, since she has no sense. The girl keeps growing every day, yet she still eats dirt. She does not even…”
The scream Ummiyo let out as she ran out of Atine’s room, followed by Atine with a whip, cut Harira short. They all went silent and watched as Atine rained curses on Ummiyo, insulting both her mother and father. In truth, Atine spared nobody in the house. Anyone who offended her, even by mistake, would definitely be made to feel the weight of that mistake.
Ummiyo found a corner and crouched there, crying. Sarai looked at her with a frown and said, “That is enough disturbing people. Get up and go find where to sleep.”
Without argument, Ummiyo got up, still crying and scratching her head, and went to her own room, because the beating Baba Atine had given her had completely driven away the deep sleep she had been enjoying.
Nadiya was the one who came in from evening school just as Baba Atine was still shouting and raging. She looked at Ummiyo with pity. In fact, in the whole house, apart from her paternal uncles, no one felt sorry for her except Nadiya. Ummiyo lived a life in that house like a foundling, or rather like a child picked from the rubbish heap. No one cared whether she bathed, much less whether her clothes were washed or whether she went to school, or even most importantly, whether she had eaten. But those who loaded her with goods to hawk cared very much that she brought back their money complete and correct, without missing even a single kobo. That was Ummiyo’s daily life in the house. While the other children went to school, she went out hawking. Since she was not very clever, the situation did not seem to trouble her very much.
Even after she entered her room, she continued crying until sleep overtook her again. Despite the many bedbugs, mosquitoes, cockroaches, and rats in the room, that was where she slept. She never thought of fixing it, and nobody thought of fixing it for her either. She lay down on her worn-out mat, and before long sleep carried her away.
She had not been asleep for long before her uncles Isyaku and Kamilu returned home. Isyaku was pulling along a ram, while Kamilu carried a plastic bag in his hand. His eldest son, Sunusi, was carrying large local chickens that had clearly been well raised. All of them had cheerful, glowing faces full of happiness and excitement. Those who had been sitting in the large compound all turned their attention to them one after another. The children stood up to welcome them and collected the things they had brought. They were overjoyed, because that was a sign that some very important and highly respected guests were expected.
Baffa Kamilu, who was also known as Jamila’s father, returned their greetings with an open and cheerful face, then went into the room of his second wife, Inna Haleema, who had not come out into the courtyard despite everything that had been happening.
Without warmth or ceremony, she received him as she usually did. She brought him the supper she had made, since it was her turn to cook that day. He did not eat much before standing up again and going out to the courtyard, saying, “Haleematu, come out, because I have something to say to everyone in the house.”
She watched him go, then clicked her tongue and continued tying up the groundnuts she sold. Whenever she prepared them, it was Ummiyo who carried them for her. Yet she could not even give her the profit from the peanuts, talk less of giving her any money. But if even one kobo got missing, then trouble would begin and she would insist on being repaid. It was usually Inna Hari who paid on Ummiyo’s behalf, and after paying she would insult Ummiyo, taunt her, and humiliate her. Still, that did not stop them from loading Ummiyo with goods to hawk again the next day, and if she lost the money again, Inna Hari would pay again while grumbling and complaining endlessly. As for Ummiyo, none of it ever seemed to bother her much.