Fin Karfi Part 2 Complete Hausa Novel

*FIN KARFI BOOK 2* *THE BOOK* *Page 1*

Sulaiman and the others did all they could to try to make the bride’s father back down, but it all ended in failure, because he went as far as saying, “By God, this marriage will not take place. If I am the one who fathered Rukayya, she will not marry Yusuf.”

On Dad’s side too, he said, “With that troublesome girl of today, her father is stronger than a poor man’s word. And if it is four daughters he wants, let him marry them off to him today. So let him know the worth of his own daughter and suffer for it.”

The security officers wanted to arrest Affa, but Dad stopped them and said, “Leave him to feel the loss he has caused his own daughter, since he has disgraced her and denied her peace and millet porridge.”

The place erupted and people were murmuring; some complained that their time had been wasted, while the bride’s family still did not understand why Affa had done that. As for the groom’s family, they felt they had been insulted, and they were very angry.

Dad stood by his car talking on the phone to Momy, telling her, “If he does not come out, Hajiya, do not let him come out.”

Momy’s heart sank and she said, “Why?”

He said, “There is a problem, that is why the wedding has even been cancelled.”

She said in alarm, “About what?”

He said, “Because of humiliation, of course. The girl’s father is not a gentleman. Keep the son from coming out.”

Momy felt cold inside and said, “They have already left—him and his friend. It is only God’s correction now.”

In a truly elegant blue shadda, with shoes and cap to match, the groom looked handsome indeed. They had become tired from moving through the crowd in their line of cars, ten in all, each one carrying people.

Dad’s elder brother was the one who stopped them and told them to get out. He looked at Daddy and said, “Well then, Dady, you had better stop being so proud, since the marriage has been cancelled.”

When Dady heard the words, it was as though thunder had struck him. He looked at his uncle and said, “If you are serious, or are you just mocking me?”

He said, “Am I your playmate that I would mock you? So turn around and come back this way.”

Dady stared at his uncle as though he were seeing him for the first time that day. He kept staring until he began to see stars circling around his uncle; indeed, darkness covered him and he could see nothing and no one.

Sadi and the others, too, were confused, and they turned back to persuade Dady to come so they could continue, only to find him almost falling to the ground. They hurriedly caught him and put him in the car. Dad, also bewildered, ran over and got into the car. He kept shaking him, saying, “My son! My son!! Oh, innalillahi, who even told him this thing?”

Ruƙayya, too, when the news reached her, immediately broke down in tears, though she did not lose her composure. She fell into an indescribable state of distress, crying until her voice became hoarse.

Yaya Murja and Yaya Fati placed her between them and kept comforting her, while telling her not to worry; if Dady was truly her husband, then inevitably she would marry him, but if he was not her husband, then that was that.

Through her tears, Ruƙayya said, “I know it will be hard for me to marry Dady. Didn’t you hear what the man in this house said? He said Affa told Dady’s father, and even if Dady were the youngest of men, he would still not give me to him. You know Affa better than anyone; he is a man who does not speak twice.”

Yaya Murja said, “That is true, but what is surprising is the reason Affa refused the marriage, when at first he agreed? Besides, he even allowed people to gather. That really did not sit well with me, because people will insult him in the town.”

Fati adjusted her sitting position, then looked at Murja and said, “But I think there must be a strong reason.”

Ruƙayya lifted her eyes and looked at Yaya Fati. “What reason made Affa do this to me?”

Yaya Fati pulled her close to her and said, “Auta, be patient. Affa himself is the one who has the answer to that question. Endure it—one day there will be news.”

She went limp as she listened to Yaya Fati. She knew she had to endure, but right now she was thinking: with what eyes would she look at Dady? What condition was he in now? Even though she knew his mind was not together, she understood better than anyone how much Dady loved her.

She let out a fresh cry and said, “I know Dady is in trouble.”

Even they did not know what to do, and they did not speak to her again until she became exhausted; before long, fever had already seized her.

When the wedding was called off, everyone went their own way, and as for the close relatives, by morning they too would go their own way. As for Hafsi, she felt as if she should pray, while Yusra even danced because she felt happy.

Until dawn Dady did not regain consciousness. The parents were thrown into their final terror, and so all the doctors in the hospital gathered around Dady. Momy was crying and praying that Allah should not let her only son leave her and go. Dad, on the other hand, kept saying that if his son died, he would not accept it; whoever it was would have to pay him back. No one knew.

At almost twelve noon, Dady woke up. The water being given to him through the drip was all he watched silently as he remembered everything in detail. His mind began asking: what made Affa cancel giving him Pretty? He knew very well how intensely he loved her. Was it even possible to say he would not marry Pretty? And what condition was Pretty in now?

Dad and the others already knew he had regained consciousness, but the doctor forbade them from speaking to him, saying they should leave him so he could remember what happened gradually.

Dady turned and looked at Dad, staring at him as though he had suddenly been cured of blindness. Then he shifted his gaze to Momy. Finally he looked at the doctor. All of them were looking at him too.

Slowly the doctor stepped up to the bedside, placed his hand on the side of Dady’s face, and said, “Yusuf son, how is your body? And where is it hurting you now?”

Dady remained silent as though he did not want to answer, because right now he was angry with everyone. But when he remembered that he wanted to go and see his Pretty, he gathered the little strength left in him and tried to sit up. The doctor helped him, and quickly Dad and Momy also came to the bedside. He looked at the doctor and said, “Doctor, I want to be discharged, because nothing is hurting me.”

Dad spoke before the doctor could answer. “My son, be patient and just rest a little longer and feel better, please.”

Dad spoke in a soothing manner. The doctor took up Dad’s point and said, “Maybe in three days’ time, then you will be normal.”

Dady said, “Truthfully, I do not think I can even wait three hours.”