Sawun Giwa Book 2 By Autar Alheri

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SAWUN GIWA BOOK 2 COMPELET BY AUTAR ALHERI 

"...they never read."
Such was the casual banter of energetic youth—cousins and siblings who truly understood each other's value.
The very next day, they were scheduled to depart for Niger. After arriving, they ate a dinner prepared and served by Aalimah at the dining table, while she stepped aside to eat her own portion. From the moment they arrived, the couples had eaten from separate plates out of sheer respect for their parents and general decency. Yet, back in their own homes, they routinely shared a single plate and a single spoon. Having already finished his meal, Aboubacar stood up and headed straight toward his wife's quarters, which were located within Aalimah's section of the house. As if waiting for his cue to leave, Aboulkhair set his spoon down and stood up as well. He glanced toward Mama's bedroom door; it appeared she had locked it from the inside, though he knew for a fact she was not yet asleep. He simply took Aalimah by the hand and pulled her to her feet. As she opened her mouth to speak, he placed a finger over her lips and whispered, "Come with me, I have a message to give you, and you will return shortly."
Aalimah did not realize Aboulkhair intended for them to sneak out of the house entirely until she found herself sitting inside Aboubacar's car. He started the engine, accelerated quickly, and sped out onto the highway.
She remained completely speechless until they pulled up at Basma's residence. He drove the car through the gate, and the security guard closed it behind them. Aboulkhair immediately hurried inside without letting their eyes meet. But she knew her husband intimately; she could read his every emotion solely through the pupils of his eyes. Knowing his natural physical disposition, she recognized that he had exerted a level of self-restraint he had never shown since their wedding night. This restraint had peaked during his return to Johns Hopkins for his Part 2 specialty examinations, a grueling period during which they had been separated for a very long time. To this day, she could never forget the beautiful day they finally reunited, a memory she cherished with the fondest thoughts!
Shaking her head out of profound empathy for her husband, she stepped out of the vehicle and followed closely behind him. The moment they stepped into Basma's living room, his actions made it overwhelmingly clear that the depth of his longing for her was immense. She denied him absolutely nothing; in fact, she found herself reciprocating with her heart, soul, and entire physical being far more intensely than on any other day in their married life. A profound wave of emotion washed over her heart and spirit—one she could find no words to adequately describe.
For him, tonight felt exactly like the night he had first unwrapped her from her packaging. Every single aspect of her body felt beautifully heightened and transformed compared to before, an exquisite consequence of the young pregnancy growing inside her womb. Aalimah belonged to that rare class of women who could never lose their allure or bore their husbands, blessed by Almighty Allah with an innate, intoxicating marital vitality. She herself was completely unaware of this gift, and he lacked the words to articulate it aloud; instead, she witnessed it practically through his intense, unyielding disposition whenever they were together—a reality that only multiplied her profound love for him.
Eventually, they both succumbed to a deep, heavy slumber, born of pure physical exhaustion, as they had sustained and fulfilled one another in ways they had never experienced before.
The ringing of his phone broke the silence. Gently disentangling Aalimah from his shoulders, he looked at the screen and saw Aboubacar calling.
"I won't ask where you two disappeared to," Aboubacar teased over the line. "Just stay right where you are. At dawn, we will drive by and pick you up. As for her, she can return on her own later—after all, she knows her way around the city."
Aboulkhair burst into laughter, the sound of which woke Aalimah from her sweet slumber, and they immediately began preparing to leave the house.
**6/30/21, 11:09 AM - Buhainat: I'm writing this chapter with heartfelt TEARS 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
When they finally arrived back at midnight, Aboubacar was already standing outside the house. Both of them found themselves completely unable to step out of the car, despite knowing that Aboubacar could see them clearly through the glass windows. Aboulkhair gently placed his palm over her pregnant stomach, closing his eyes to feel the rhythmic flutter of the baby. He whispered, "Do you know something?"
She shook her head, an inexplicable sadness suddenly heavy in her chest, making her wish they could simply return to Basma’s house to spend the night together. Once he departed for Niger, she would not see his face again for another ten days, until after Khaleesat's wedding festivities concluded and he came back to relocate them. They were not traveling at the same time as the Massachusetts contingent, who were scheduled to leave two weeks later. Should she have just ignored Basma's presence and followed her husband to Niger? Her mind flashed to the endless array of beautiful, eligible young women within their extended family clan who would undoubtedly be casting admiring glances at him. A sudden, violent surge of jealousy choked her spirit—a feeling she never knew she possessed. In the Western society where they lived, people rarely interfered in such matters, as everyone respected their life partner and minded their own business. She shook her head silently.
Unaware of the chaotic thoughts racing through her mind, he continued softly, "If you give birth to a boy, I will name him MU'AZZAM. And if it is a girl, she will be named AALIMAH (The Knowledgeable), so I can have the absolute joy of telling her how sweet and loving her mother is, how supportive and generous she is, how deeply I truly love her, and how many long years I spent waiting to marry her. I will tell her everything, Aalimah. And if it is a boy, I will tell him how I lived my life wrapped in devotion to my ailing older brother, how much I love him, and how deeply I dream of his full recovery. I will tell him how Mu'azzam brought goodness to my life, stood by me against all odds, and shaped me into the man I am today: Aboulkhair, a man standing firmly on his own two feet, the proud husband of Aalimah. To the point that she is about to bring a child into this world for us—for me and Mu'azzam..."
It was only then that he noticed Aalimah was weeping bitterly.
"My love (Mon Amour), I have changed my mind about staying behind," she sobbed. "We are leaving together."
He paused for a long moment, carefully observing her. She was completely unraveled, a stark contrast to her usual composed self. He mentally reviewed the words he had just spoken, wondering if anything he said was traumatic or offensive. To the best of his knowledge, there was none. Yet, her face was completely drenched in a heavy stream of tears and sorrow. Pulling her tightly against his chest, he called her by her formal name: "Aalimah."
"Yes?" she answered through a choked sob, realizing it had been since their youthful days of courtship that he had addressed her so formally.
"What did I say that broke your heart?"
"Nothing at all," she replied hastily.
"Then why on earth are you suddenly changing your mind and insisting on going to Niger? You must be kidding. Do not think for a second that I am blind to your condition—just look at your swollen feet. You are being reckless if you think I will allow you to plunge into the chaotic, exhausting demands of this Niger wedding. I won't have you cooking endlessly, making traditional flatbreads (roti), and dancing at cocktail parties, bringing upon me a devastating loss that I am absolutely not prepared to handle! Therefore, just put your mind at ease so we can part ways in peace, or this will end in a massive dispute."
An involuntary smile escaped her lips despite the heavy tears clouding her face. Before she could react, Aboulkhair pulled her back into his embrace, his tongue tracing her cheeks as he tenderly kissed away every single tear from her face. His eyes were filled with an intense, overwhelming emotion.
Standing a short distance away, Aboubacar was on the phone with Basma while waiting for Aboulkhair to say his goodbyes to Aalimah. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the intimate scene unfolding in the vehicle. He quickly hurried inside the house to report the details to Basma over the phone. In bashfulness, Basma covered her face with her fingers, claiming she felt secondary embarrassment for the couple. Moments later, she felt Aboubacar's breath on her own cheek as he whispered playfully, "Let me show you exactly what they are doing."
Aboulkhair and Aalimah did not finally part ways until exactly one o'clock in the morning. As she walked back into the house, she kept looking back over her shoulder with a smile. He remained leaning against Aboubacar's car, returning her gaze with a smile of his own. If her memory served her right, she had never seen him wear such a profoundly captivating, triumphant smile in all their years together.

Part 2: The Journey and the Tragic Twist

Daddyn Aalimah (Dr. Mansour), Daddyn Aboulkhair (Ishaq), Aboubacar, and Aboulkhair stood inside the terminal of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, their faces masked with intense frustration and disappointment. They had just been informed that there would be no flights departing for Niamey that day. The aircraft they had booked earlier that morning had suffered a severe mechanical failure while still grounded in Niamey and could not take off for repairs.
Checking his wristwatch, Aboubacar interjected, "Daddy, rather than sitting here wasting precious time, we should travel by road. It is a solid twelve-hour drive from here to Niamey. It is currently 8:00 AM. If we hurry and hit the road by 9:00 AM, we will arrive in Niamey by 9:00 PM tonight. We will still make it in time for the wedding solemnization."
The entire group readily accepted the advice. Daddyn Aboulkhair added, "Aboulkhair is an exceptionally skilled driver; I am confident we might even arrive well ahead of that schedule."
They rushed back home to briefly explain the sudden change of plans to Mama. Without wasting a single moment, they loaded their luggage into Dr. Mansour's brand-new 2015 Jeep Cherokee. Aboulkhair started the ignition, Aboubacar took the front passenger seat, and the two fathers sat comfortably in the back. Aalimah and the others were completely unaware of this sudden development; they had left the house very early that morning. Aalimah had escorted Basma to the clinic, as young Hassana (Zulaiha) was battling a severe cold, while her twin sister Hussaina—named after Mama (Aseeya)—was also restless.
The men stopped at a filling station to top up the tank before officially charting their course toward the Republic of Niger.
The horrific automobile accident transpired just as they crossed the border separating Nigeria from the Republic of Niger, shortly after passing through the town of Jibia.
A group of nomadic Fulani herdsmen was steering a large cattle herd across the highway. Concurrently, the driver of the Jeep was operating the vehicle at high speed, driven by an urgent desire to reach their destination. His singular goal was to cross deep into Niger territory before the midday (Zuhr) prayer, so they could observe their prayers, eat, and proceed directly to Niamey without any further delays.
The cattle suddenly flooded the asphalt at a run. Seeing the animals directly ahead while maintaining high speed, the driver instinctively made a sharp turn to steer the vehicle clear, noting that the oncoming lane was entirely vacant. However, he failed to notice a smaller sedan that was also speeding up rapidly from behind him. The driver of the smaller vehicle suddenly saw the large Jeep swerve directly into their path without warning. Before the driver of the sedan could execute an evasive maneuver, it suffered a catastrophic, head-on collision with the black Jeep. The violence of the impact sent both vehicles spinning uncontrollably across the highway before they plummeted into a massive ditch on the shoulder of the road. The air was instantly filled with the desperate cries of passengers reciting the Islamic declarations of faith (Hailala and Salat), completely surrendering their lives to the ultimate decree of their Creator.

Part 3: The Premonition and the Arrival of the Police

At dawn that same morning, Hassana and Hussaina continued to fill the household with a continuous, piercing cry—a distressing routine they had maintained throughout the night with only brief moments of exhaustion. Since the previous evening, they had completely refused to nurse. Neither Basma nor Aalimah had slept a single wink, entirely consumed by managing the twins. To make matters worse, Mama was confined to her bed, severely ill; she could not articulate exactly where the pain was localized, but she lacked the physical strength to even lift her hand, let alone assist them. From her bed, she simply instructed the young women to continuously recite prayers and blow protective supplications over the infants.
Basma sat slumped in a corner, her face resting heavily in her palms. Her breasts were severely engorged and painful, actively leaking milk and soaking the front of her dress. Aalimah desperately wanted to observe her dawn (Fajr) prayer, as the nearby mosque had already concluded congregation, but she was holding both crying infants in her arms, swaying them gently. She knew with absolute certainty that if she laid them down, Basma would not even reach out to touch them. Basma had become entirely catatonic—looking like someone who had suddenly been struck by a profound, long-term deafness.
Aalimah finally laid one twin down and strapped the other, Hussaina, to her back. She had not strapped a baby to her back since Aunt Gumsu's last delivery. Ever since Basma had been discharged from the hospital, Mama had handled all the baby-strapping duties. Aalimah threw her prayer hijab over her shoulders and commenced her salah, her heart pounding heavily in sync with the agonizing cries of the baby secured on her back. The infant she had laid down on the floor did not stop crying either. Suddenly, Aalimah herself burst into tears out of sheer pity for Basma, recognizing that a deep, subconscious trauma had completely paralyzed Basma's ability to care for her own children. She prayed fervently to finish her prayers so they could rush to the hospital. The driving skills Aboulkhair had stubbornly insisted on teaching her—despite her initial reluctance—were finally going to be put to critical use today. Earlier that morning, she had driven them to the clinic where a doctor evaluated the twins and dismissed the issue as a standard cold, prescribing medications before sending them home.
It was during that brief window that Mama had informed them about Daddy and the others traveling by road due to the flight cancellation. They had all offered prayers for their safe transit before returning to the grueling task of managing the newborns.
However, from the moment the evening (Maghrib) prayer concluded, the twins had opened their throats and unleashed an unrelenting torrent of crying that persisted to this moment. As soon as Aalimah concluded her prayers, she walked out with Hussaina still strapped to her back and checked on Sabrina and the others, only to find them fast asleep. Frustrated, she woke them up angrily. Startled, they leaped out of bed, asking what was wrong.
Aalimah wept openly before them, exclaiming, "Your useless, heavy sleep is going to bring disaster upon this house! Your mother is lying bedridden, unable to move since last night, and here you are sleeping like logs! Do you mean to tell me you didn't hear a single cry from these twins throughout the night?!" They began swearing solemnly, jumping off their mattresses, insisting they had absolutely no idea and had not heard a single sound. She ordered them to attend to Mama immediately while she and Basma rushed the infants back to the emergency room.
The girls scrambled out of the room in sheer panic, while Aalimah followed them with a fierce glare, her eyes bloodshot from exhaustion. Internally, a terrifying sense of dread kept striking her chest, forcing her to repeatedly place her hand over her heart and invoke the name of Allah. The unborn baby inside her own womb began twisting and turning violently, as though attempting to bypass its remaining gestational months. She returned to the room and begged Basma to change her clothes so they could leave for the hospital, but Basma remained entirely mute and motionless. In Basma's traumatized mind, she was convinced she was going to lose her babies, so she saw absolutely no point in visiting any medical facility. Furthermore, Aboubacar had not called her since the previous afternoon, and whenever she attempted to dial his number, the call failed to connect. This structural silence was the true root of her psychological breakdown.
Aalimah deployed every soothing word known to her, but Basma refused to budge, causing Aalimah to break down into heavy sobs.
She cried, "Basma, what exactly do you want me to do? Do you want me to lose my mind entirely? Mama is lying in the other room completely unresponsive, my own heart is tearing apart, and I am merely putting on a brave face! There is clearly something drastically wrong with these children. Are you suggesting we just sit here staring at newborns who have gone a whole night without a single drop of milk?!"
Basma did not even flinch. Realizing she was entirely on her own, Aalimah grabbed her prayer hijab and snatched the keys to Aboubacar's car, which he had left behind for them—almost as if he had instinctively known they would desperately require it. She wrapped Hassana securely in a thick shawl, grabbed their medical files, and turned to leave. Suhaima came running after her, snatching the baby from her arms, saying, "Let me go with you to the clinic, I will assist you."
Upon arriving at the hospital's neonatal unit, the doctors immediately admitted the day-old infants and commenced a comprehensive medical evaluation. Aalimah and Suhaima found a place to sit in the waiting area. Only then did a semblance of calm return to her spirit, now that the agonizing cries of the infants had ceased. Suddenly, thoughts of Aboulkhair flooded her consciousness. When she had spoken to him yesterday morning following their initial hospital visit, he had mentioned they were currently in Katsina, adding: "Once we cross into Niger, I will call you. Take care of yourself and my baby for me, MY LOVE (Mon Amour)!"
That was the last communication she received; she had not seen a single notification from him since. She had spent the entire day clutching her phone in anticipation of his call, even tucking it into her waistband whenever she stood up to pray. When her patience finally wore thin, she tried dialing his number repeatedly, but it refused to connect. She initially rationalized that they had entered the desert tracts where network coverage was nonexistent; yet, even as the twins escalated into their medical crisis, there was absolute silence from both Aboulkhair and Aboubacar. Mama noted that Daddy had not called either. By all calculations, they should have arrived in Niamey long ago. In fact, by now, they should have slept and woken up to a brand-new morning, as the dawn had already fully broken.
She strictly refused to harbor any dark or negative thoughts, knowing well that Aboulkhair possessed a local Niger SIM card. She reasoned that he simply hadn't found a single moment of rest to call her due to sheer exhaustion, considering he had single-handedly operated the vehicle all the way from Nigeria through the borders into the capital city of Niamey. However, the persistent, violent fluttering in her chest continued to torment her. As a trained medical professional, she was acutely aware of the severe physical dangers a high heart rate and sudden panic posed to a pregnant woman; thus, she focused entirely on reciting internal declarations of faith (Hailala) and blessings upon the Prophet within her soul.
At that precise moment, the attending physician emerged from the neonatal ward. He looked at her and asked bluntly, "Where is the biological mother of these children?" She replied that she was at home.
The doctor stared at her in utter astonishment before dismissing his confusion. He instructed, "Go back and bring her here immediately. We need to extract her breast milk to feed them via a nasogastric tube; a severe, congested fever has completely blocked their throats."
Turning to Suhaima, Aalimah told her to remain at the hospital while she rushed home to retrieve Basma. She promised she would not be long and would likely bring Mama along as well.
From a distance as she approached the residence, Aalimah spotted a black police cruiser parked directly outside their gate. The frantic pounding in her chest, which had briefly subsided due to her intense prayers, instantly roared back with a vengeance. Two uniformed police officers were standing by the entrance, engaged in an earnest conversation with their elderly security guard, Bilyaminu.
She slowly decelerated the vehicle, drove past them toward the gate, and honked her horn at Bilyaminu, signaling him to open the gates so she could pull inside.
Bilyaminu rushed over to her window immediately. Instead of opening the gate, he stammered an explanation, stating that the police officers had come specifically for their household and were demanding to speak with a senior male figure of the family. Though it was completely against her nature to disrespect anyone—whether an elder or a subordinate—she could not control the fierce glare she directed at the old man. "Bilyaminu, you know fully well that from Daddy down to Brother Aboubacar, absolutely none of the men are home, right?! Why on earth would you block my path to tell me this instead of telling them directly? Are you aware of the life-or-death emergency currently hanging over my head? Since you saw me rush out at dawn and return just now, shouldn't you just open the gate and deal with them yourself? It's not as if I've committed a crime!"
Seeing that she was completely ignoring them and reprimanding the old security guard, one of the police officers stepped forward. "Excuse me, Madam," he addressed her in a calm, professional tone.
Forced into silence, she turned her full attention toward him.
"We are tracking the residence of Dr. Mansour Raazee, a lecturer at Bayero University under the Faculty of Mass Communication, as well as the residence of Aboubacar Raazee, an accountant with GTBank, Hotoro Branch," the officer stated clearly in English.
Her voice lost all its fire, turning completely cold as she replied, "This is the house."
"Could you please send out a male relative to accompany us to our station? We have a critical update regarding them."
She shook her head, presenting a deeply pitiful sight as she whispered, "I am the most senior person currently in this house. There is not a single male present besides the ones you mentioned, and my mother is dangerously ill inside."
The officer paused, visibly conflicted. He recognized that it was highly inappropriate to abruptly break the tragic news to her right here on the street, especially noting her heavily pregnant state and the fact that every single man in the investigation files was a close relative. In the photographs transmitted to their precinct, the physical resemblance between her and the missing men was unmistakable.
"Madam, please try to call a male neighbor or a family friend," the officer insisted gently. "I would strongly prefer to discuss this matter with a man rather than directly with you."
"Please understand, Officer, I am entirely new to this neighborhood and I do not know a soul here. Please have some compassion and let me pass if you cannot immediately state your business. I have left critically ill newborns at the hospital."
Suddenly, tears began streaming down her face. Her heart sank completely; her intuition told her with absolute certainty that these officers were the bearers of a catastrophic, life-altering verdict—one that would instantly extinguish every shred of joy in her existence. It was a reality so dark that the officers were visibly terrified to articulate it to a lone, pregnant woman.
"Very well, since you insist," the officer relented. "Can you follow us down to our precinct?"
She drew in a sharp, ragged breath but found herself completely unable to exhale. To think that today she was being summoned to a police station for a matter she knew nothing about! Yet, they explicitly stated that their mission concerned her father and her brother. Had they committed an offense? Had they been arrested across the border on their way to Niger? And what about the rest of the men who hadn't been mentioned by name—where were they?
Possessing no answers, she wiped the tears obscuring her vision and begged them to grant her ten minutes to step inside the house, retrieve her sister to take her to the clinic, and then she would meet them at their station as requested.
The moment she crossed the threshold of the house, she was met with an entirely new wave of domestic horror. Basma was lying completely unconscious on the floor, while Sabrina and the others were frantically splashing water on her face. Despite the severity of her own illness, Mama had forced them to prop her up against a pile of pillows. Sabrina wept as she explained that a phone call had come through from Niger, stating that Daddy and the others had never arrived yesterday. Upon learning that every single one of their phones had gone completely dead, Basma had collapsed into repeated fits of fainting the moment she regained consciousness. Aalimah turned to Mama in absolute terror, and Mama, barely closing her eyes, commanded, "Combine your strength, get her into the car immediately, and take her to the hospital."
Her entire body shaking violently, Aalimah cried out, "Mama, I am taking you along as well! I swear to Allah I will not leave you abandoned in this house. I am going to call Mummy in Niger right now to tell her the state you are all in; I cannot handle this weight alone, my brain is on the verge of snapping! Right now, the police are waiting at the gate to take me away. If they never reached Niger, where on earth did they go? Oh Allah, I am ruined! Could it be that armed highway robbers intercepted them?!"
In that moment of sheer panic, no other possibility crossed their minds. Mama repeated that she lacked the physical capacity to walk to the vehicle. Weeping, Aalimah declared, "Even if I have to carry you on my back, I am getting you to that hospital!"
Together with her two younger sisters, they physically lifted Mama, half-dragging her feet across the floor toward the car. As they stepped out into the courtyard, Tabawa and Sabira (Mama's day-hire domestic workers) walked through the gates.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Aalimah watched as the sturdy Tabawa single-handedly lifted the unconscious Basma into her arms. They packed everyone into the vehicle, including Sabrina and the others, with two crammed into the front passenger seat. Aalimah slammed her foot on the accelerator, driving them directly to the private international hospital where Hassana and Hussaina were currently admitted.
Given the premium nature of the international facility, the entire family was admitted without a single moment of delay. Aalimah informed Mama that she needed to step out to the police station and would return shortly, but Mama, from her hospital bed, strictly forbade it. She ordered Aalimah to try Aboulkhair’s line one more time, and if he remained unreachable, she must dial Uncle Oussama immediately to report the crisis; under no circumstances was she permitted to step past the hospital gates.
Aalimah complied entirely. Deep down, she knew that if the impending reality did not break her, the sheer terror and suffocating suspense consuming her soul would trigger severe, fatal hypertension—a medical crisis highly dangerous for her pregnancy.
The silence remained absolute. There was still no word from Aboubacar, Aboulkhair, or Daddy. Weeping uncontrollably, she dialed Uncle Oussama in Niger. On the other side of the border, the extended family sat in a stunned, agonizing silence; they had been entirely unable to proceed with the wedding solemnization despite having gathered a massive crowd of guests from both the cities and the villages, as the parents of the grooms had vanished without a trace since yesterday.
Despite her heavy sobbing, Uncle Oussama understood every word. She unraveled the entire horrific chain of events that had transpired since yesterday morning, adding that the entire household—including the newborns—had just been formally admitted to hospital beds, and that Mama had banned her from visiting the police precinct.
"We are coming to Nigeria today. Do not dare step foot inside that police station," was all he managed to say, an icy wave of terror and dread seizing his entire being.
The young groom, Hamoud, sat paralyzed in a corner, while Mu'azzam—who had arrived from the United States the previous day—stepped forward. Mu'azzam immediately instructed them to secure emergency flight tickets to Abuja for himself, Uncle Edrissa, the young groom, and Malam himself. Beyond this directive, Uncle Oussama offered no further explanations to the gathering. He quietly accepted the dowry from his younger brother (Inna Bintou's eldest son) and proceeded to formally solemnize the marriage of Khaleesat and Hamoud. It was a ceremony completely void of joy, executed solely out of obligation to the massive crowd of guests. Before the crowd could even disperse, Oussama drew Malam into a quiet corner and relayed the terrifying details Aalimah had shared over the phone, adding grimly that he suspected the men were currently in police custody or that something...