Hakki

Prologue

I will be like the crow

An eye for an eye

Brainy unknowing

By the general consensus

Or will I be like the cat?

Once upon a bad omen

-Zeemibs

◇◇◇

Malam Kalla is a sheep herder. As one of those nomadic fulani that roam the world freely, his family follows wherever he goes.

One day, they tore through the west coast of Yarogoi and found themselves cutting through the savannahs. The deserts have encroached a little too far into the wide west. Therefore, the undulating hills of the deserts have begun to widen a lot, causing their trip into the grassy savannahs to shorten. And what they know to have been a stretch of greens for acres and acres have turned into a barren field of sand.

This spells trouble for their sheep. Therefore, they decided to turn around and change course. They decided to go through the East West sahel savannahs to cut through the city of Jebba.

This was supposed to save their hundreds of sheep. Unfortunately, they have torn through courageously, only to find that the old bridge that connected the mountains that led to Jebba were gone. And just as their bewildered senses were reeling from the change and wondering the best cause of action, the weather grows chillier in the mountains. And they honestly did not mind too much because it was bound to get chillier at the mountain tops. They would only spend a couple of days before they found their way around the existing obstacles.

But no one expected hale. No one expected the fog and the sudden cold that chilled to the bones during the night. The worst is the snowstorm that killed the remaining ounces of fight left within them.

One week was too long until the entire herd died.

Alhaji Kalla died from a heart attack. And while they traversed the freezing savannahs, every single one died. Except their teenage son, Muhammad.

Muhammad survived, but he was never the same. He did not want to be a cattle rearer like his father. And so, he dotted the streets like the orphaned children who no one ever cares about. The orphaned ones are a result of death or abandonment. His heart is very cold. It is as if the death of his loved ones allowed the freezing cold to leach into his heart and turned it to stone. He doesn't even smile. He was always just...living.

Muhammad finally began to work for Alhaji Munkaila, who took him in only two years later. He merely does chores around his house. But his quiet personality and his loyalty won the Alhaji's heart.

Muhammad was soon introduced to Alhaji Munkaila's shop in a market called Gama in Jebba.

Muhammad grew the business along with his master for years. When he turned thirty, he met Yayajo, a teenage girl who finally stole his frozen heart. And just this once, he couldn't help but want to share something with someone. He was so scared she wouldn't love him. And for months until he turned thirty-one, he just watched her from afar.

Yayajo is so beautiful that at her young age, she has been much sought after but all ranks of people, including the rich and powerful. Muhammed felt like he didn't cut the mark.