Kalbim Book 2 Complete Hausa Novel

When Kawu Isiya heard that, he looked at Garba and said, “Come on—go and bring burning embers.”

Garba turned and went into a room. He came back carrying some large sewing bags made of patterned fabric and another piece of cloth. He pulled out some herbal bundles—like the kind used in bori incense—filled his hand with them and poured them into the fire Garba had brought. Then they pushed the smoking embers toward Ammar, Mahir, Harma, Dad, and Jannah in the room and began to fumigate them.

Ammar started coughing again because of the severe torment of the smoke, which he felt forcing its way into his head and lungs—almost to the point of going blind.

Mahir was in agony too, feeling like he was dying. He didn’t even realize when he let out a loud scream of pain. He tried to find a way out but couldn’t even see; then Garba grabbed him and said,

“It’s a treatment—medicine for every kind of parasite. Village life comes with its remedies; you have to carry the medicine on your body.”

Jannah—because they had already begun to get used to life’s harshness—had suffered a lot from smoke before, but not as badly as Ammar.

Dad, however, was quickly taken out unprepared because they feared he might die—he, Ummah, and Jannah. But Ammar and Mahir kept fainting and coming to; still, they forced them to stay until they were sure the medicine had entered them well enough.

Ammar found himself gripped by overwhelming fear and panic after his return, because to him it looked like the people lived like animals, not like human beings.

Mahir began to have diarrhea, but he had to go behind the house, out in the bush, because he couldn’t use the toilet. He was afraid of squatting, but since they had been in prison, they were used to squatting in grasses among filth and urine—so they were somewhat familiar with it.

Ammar too was forced to go into the bush whenever he felt the urge, but Garba always accompanied him because he was scared everywhere in the village.

Dad was also thrown into a difficult, harsh life. But when he saw that Jannah endured it—embracing her fate, getting used to it even though she was a young woman—he began to worry about the state they were in: they had landed somewhere that would only add to their hardship. So he gathered courage, accepted the destiny of their new life in the village, and decided to settle into it until Allah brought them a different life… or until the end of his own life. They had no choice but to accept it, live it, and try to find peace in it—the peace they had lost in the years before.

Mahir too had to accept the village life, even though there were things they couldn’t adapt to quickly—like the toilet. Up to that point, they were still afraid and couldn’t use it. The same with their food and the rest of how life was run; they would only get used to it gradually.

Ammar, because Jannah seemed calmer, tried very hard to begin accepting village life as well. He couldn’t even go to urinate unless Garba came with him—Garba had become like his bodyguard and friend… and also his sparring partner, because they fought every day. But wherever Ammar wanted to go, he couldn’t move without Garba. Garba had strength and bravery and wasn’t afraid of anything at all—so even if they fought and Ammar cursed him in English, he would still go back and look for Garba to make peace, because he had no other choice.