Ganin Ido Book Complete Ummu Ameer

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English Translation

BORNO STATE — KUKAWA VILLAGE

"I was walking along, singing a song our school teacher taught us yesterday, when I heard someone call out, 'Grandmother's little pest!'" I turned around to see which good-for-nothing joker was teasing me today; whenever I stepped outside, someone always had to tease me.

As it turned out, it was Salisu. I had actually come out looking for him to collect the money he owed for my akara (kosai). "Hey Salisu," I called out, "where is my akara money? Every single time you buy on credit, you refuse to pay. I swear, today you are going to pay!"

"Hey Deeje, go do your worst! I'm not paying a dime, especially since you have such a foul mouth!" he shouted as he walked past, leaving me standing there.

"Damn it! Today you're going to learn that you're messing with Deeje," I muttered. I picked up a stone and yelled, "Salisu, turn around and look!" The moment he turned, I hurled the stone straight at his forehead—thud!—and sprinted back home as fast as my legs could carry me.

Salisu clutched his forehead, screaming in pain, "Aradu! I swear you're going to pay for this, Deeje! And as for your akara money, if I ever pay it, call me a bastard!"

Before you could say a penny, a crowd gathered around Salisu to comfort him, because he had sustained a nasty injury. Blood was gushing from his forehead, which was already swelling up like a balloon. They rushed him to the pharmacy to stop the bleeding, clean the wound, and bandage it up. From there, he marched straight to the police station, and soon, a whole police van pulled up right in front of our house.

As for me, upon entering the house, I found that Gwaggo had finished her chores, and food had already been set aside for me. "Phew, I'm so exhausted," I panted. I hurried over to our little kitchenette, scooped up some food, and immediately started eating.

Hearing pots rattling in the kitchen, Gwaggo yelled, "Ah, you home-bred goat, you sweet-porridge-loving thief! Your days are numbered today!" She grabbed a huge wooden pestle and stormed into the kitchen ready to strike whoever was there, only to realize it was me. "Ke, Deeje! I swear, today you almost visited the afterlife! I thought you were that stubborn goat again. But let me ask you, why do you always sneak into the kitchen without saying salam?"

Suddenly, we heard frantic, pounding knocks on our front gate, loud enough to break it down. "Let me go check," I said. "It has to be Salisu."

I rushed to the front door, and the moment I swung it open, there stood a police officer with a massive beer belly and a heavy baton in his hand. I shrieked in absolute terror, "Gwaggo, help me! They've come to take your grandson away!" Right then and there, I literally peed in my pants, because I have an absolute phobia of police officers.

The officer barked, "Hey, shut up your mouth!"

"I swear by God, it wasn't me, Oga Big Belly! Please, for God's sake, spare me!" I pleaded. He turned to Salisu and asked, "Is she the suspect?"

Just then, Gwaggo rushed out, shouting, "What is going on here? Me, Hajara, what am I seeing?"

Salisu pointed at me and said, "This girl right here attacked me, and I want her to taste a dose of her own medicine!"

"What?!" Gwaggo gasped. "Because of this little girl, you mobilized a whole van full of policemen? Hey, how old are you?"

"Oh dear, I'm doomed, Gwaggo! They're going to throw me in prison until I die—he even spoke English!" I wailed.

Gwaggo dropped straight to her knees, pleading, "Please, officer, don't take my granddaughter away! We have no one in this world except Allah."

One of the other policemen asked, "How old is she?"

Before I could answer, Gwaggo jumped up and said, "Well, she's about eleven years old!"

The officer turned to Salisu and said, "Oga, she's just a child. Now, what actually happened that made you bleed like this?"

"I went to collect my akara money," I explained. "For almost three days he's been eating on credit without paying. When I demanded my money, he told me to come meet him at night to collect it! That's why I hit him!"

Gwaggo let out a loud gasp of disbelief and exclaimed, "Salisu! You betrayed my trust! This girl is entrusted to my care!" She burst into tears.

"I swear, Gwaggo, she's framing me! That's not how it happened!" Salisu stammered.

The police officer glared at him and barked, "So you people are out here corrupting minors? Are you going to explain yourself, or should we arrest you?" He ordered the other officers to arrest Salisu and take him away.

We retreated inside the house, but my stomach was in such a violent knot that I bolted straight to the bathroom. When I came out, completely sapped of energy, I groaned, "Oh me, oh my, Deeje has seen the worst of today."

"Deeje, come here," Gwaggo called out. I walked over and sat beside her. "Tell me the truth, Deeje. Knowing your stubborn nature, what really happened when I sent you to collect the akara money from Salisu?"

"Gwaggo, you know how Salisu is; he flat out refused to pay, so I taught him a lesson!" I replied.

Gwaggo sighed. "Deeje, you need to calm down. Ever since you were three years old, you've been dragging troubles to my doorstep. But now you've even involved the police, Deeje?"

"You know very well that I mind my own business, but if anyone crosses my line, I don't take it lightly! Now let me go grind the beans for the next batch of kosai, Gwaggo," I said, jumping up to start the bean-grinding process.

Early the next morning, I woke up, set up the frying gear outside the shade where Gwaggo fries her kosai right by the edge of our street, and ran off to drop off the beans at the local grinding mill. When I returned, I found Gwaggo had already stoked the fire and was waiting for me.

"Well done, Deeje. Did you have to queue for long at the mill?" she asked.

"Not really, except for Habibah, whose grinding machine crawls like a snail," I replied, dropping the ground beans. "Let me go get dressed for school now. You know we've started our exams."

"Hurry up then, and make sure you grab your share of kosai to take with you," she instructed.

"Okay," I said, running back inside.

After getting dressed, I went back to Gwaggo to collect my kosai and transport money for the bus, because our school, KUKAWA PRIMARY SCHOOL, is located right at the edge of town. It's a government-built school in Kukawa—a small village, yet quite densely populated. Every Sunday, we host a massive market where even people from the city come to buy everything from livestock to fresh produce, traditional spices, and foodstuff.

After school dismissal, we rushed toward the school bus. Naturally, no one ever dares to mess with me, and boarding the bus is always absolute chaos. Today, Zeenatu was shoved hard and fell right out of the bus because Fauziyya claimed it wasn't her rightful seat and pushed her aside to take it. Fuming, I marched over and shoved Fauziyya out of the bus onto the ground, shouting, "Who do you think you are to push Zeenatu when she sat down first? Is this bus your father's property?"

In a rage, Fauziyya scrambled up, grabbed me, and tried to throw me out too. But I hooked my foot around the bus window frame and shoved her back out so hard she fell flat on her back! Everyone burst into laughter. Everyone secretly resented Fauziyya anyway because of her arrogant attitude, always bragging that the bus belonged to her older sister's husband.

"Listen here," Fauziyya yelled, "from today none of you are stepping foot in this bus again, since it doesn't belong to your fathers!"

The crowd burst into laughter again. "Well, we are definitely going to ride it—it belongs to somebody's father!" I retorted, and everyone cheered wildly. Furious, Fauziyya climbed back inside, glared at me, and I glared right back—I never let anyone get the last word. That's how we made it back to our neighborhood.

As I climbed down and walked home, I spotted Salisu standing by his shop. He sneered, "Hey, Grandmother's little pet!" I completely ignored him. "Just wait until I get my hands on you, Deeje; you'll regret ever messing with me!" he threatened.

I walked straight into my house, quickly shed my school uniform, and headed to the kitchen while talking to myself... I wonder what Gwaggo cooked for us today?

"Deeje, come here!" I heard her call.

"Oh, this old woman is always full of demands," I muttered, stepping into her room.

"Here is your food," she said, "but you won't get a single bite unless you greet me properly with a loud salam!"

"Kabidjam! If I have to choose between missing food and missing a bath, I'd rather miss a bath!" I joked. I stepped back out to the front door and let out the loudest, most theatrical salam imaginable, complete with village-style ululations. Annoyed, Gwaggo stepped out holding a bowl and hurled it in my direction. I ducked, laughing, as she scolded, "Deeje, I wonder when you'll ever learn some sense! Now pick up your food and get inside."

I hurried to my room, devoured the food with immense relish because Gwaggo is an absolute master of cooking, performed my prayers, and took a nap. Every single day after returning from school and before heading to Islamic Qur'anic school (allo), I always made sure to take a nap.

Today is Saturday, so we have no school. Whenever there's no school, I'm the one who fries the kosai for Gwaggo to sell. While I was busy frying, Auwal walked by and said, "Hey stranger! It's been a few days since I last saw you."

"Oh, Ya Auwal, as if you don't know where our house is," I retorted, continuing my work. He smiled and said, "If I start arguing with you now, we'll end up fighting."

Just then, Bello walked up and snapped, "Hey! I've been waiting here forever for you to serve me kosai, but instead you handed it to Mallam Hashimu even though I handed you my money before him! If you're going to disrespect me like this, give me back my money."

Mallam Hashimu quickly intervened, "Ah, my son, I honestly didn't know you had already handed her your money when I asked. Please forgive me."

"Baba Hashimu, what kind of apology are you offering him?" I snapped. "If he can't wait patiently, nobody forced him here; he can take his business elsewhere!" I didn't even bother looking at Bello as I went back to frying.

Bello's face contorted with rage. "Deeje, are you talking to me like that? Who do you think you are? Look, whatever you get away with with other people, you can't pull that crap with me, because I will crush you!"

I stood up straight and fired back, "Bello, you keep asking who I am. Well, unlike some people, I come from a proper lineage because I am a Muslim!"

"Oh please, what kind of lineage?" he scoffed. "True lineage is traced through both a mother and a father. I have a mother and a father, so my roots are far more legitimate than yours. Go ahead and show me your parents!"

Fuming with absolute rage, I yelled, "Bello, do you even have the audacity to call me a bastard?! Even if my parents aren't around, you can clearly see my grandmother, who birthed one of them! When did you even convert to Islam to know anything about honor and decency?!"

Auwal rushed in, saying, "Haba Bello, what is the meaning of this? Can't you see she's just a child? Why can't you act your age? Deeje, please let this drop; this argument is getting way out of hand."

I grabbed Bello's money, threw it at him, and shouted, "No kosai for you today! Go buy it elsewhere!" and continued serving the other customers.

Just then, Gwaggo arrived, demanding, "Whose screaming and noise am I hearing?"

Auwal quickly covered up, saying, "Oh, it's nothing, Gwaggo, just harmless teasing."

"No, Ya Auwal, tell her the truth!" I protested. "Gwaggo, it's Bello! Because I gave Mallam Hashimu kosai first, he insulted me and called me a bastard! That's why I refused to sell to him."

Gwaggo's face turned dark with fury. So this insult about her granddaughter being a bastard was still going around? Oh, today Bello was going to learn a hard lesson and find out where he stood!

She started packing up her frying utensils, and I eagerly helped her. She instructed, "Auwal, help me carry these things home," announcing that she was heading straight to Bello's house. Delighted, I thought to myself... Yes! I wish I could go witness the showdown firsthand, but since she's going to defend my honor, I'll let it slide.

Ya Auwal escorted me all the way to our doorstep and dropped the load in the porch. I thanked him; despite all my attitude, Ya Auwal never matched my energy—he would just smile and say, "It's just youthful stubbornness."

The moment Gwaggo arrived at Bello's house, she unleashed a torrent of fierce abuses: "Where are you people, you so-called people of noble lineage?!"

Bello's mother peeked over the courtyard wall and called out, "Ah, Gwaggo, please step inside and let's talk!"

"I didn't come here to sit down!" Gwaggo yelled back. "Where is that arrogant son of yours who looks like a foreigner? You better warn him to stay away from my granddaughter's path, or I'll take this matter straight to the authorities!"

Poor Madam Balki stammered, "Please calm down, Gwaggo! I told this boy not to go looking for trouble. Bello, you better come out here right now!"

True to form, Gwaggo shouted, "And you! Stop saying 'carry' trouble—you act like Bello is the only one who matters just because I didn't go to Western school (boy). Let me tell you, my granddaughter is a modern schoolgirl too!"

Madam Balki pleaded, "No, Gwaggo, what I mean is—please forgive him, he won't do it again."

Just then, Bello walked into the courtyard asking, "What's going on?"—and froze dead in his tracks the moment he locked eyes with DEEJE'S GRANDMOTHER.

Gwaggo fired back, "I am the one going on! Let me tell you, you disrespectful boy, she said you insulted her!"

His mother urged him to apologize to Gwaggo. He meekly held his ears and said, "I'm so sorry, Gwaggo."

That only made Gwaggo even angrier! "A 'sorry'?! Watch your mouth! You are nowhere near a match for my granddaughter; even if she were to run out of marriage suitors, she would never marry you!"

Total disaster! Realizing the old woman was completely eccentric and wouldn't reason with normal apologies, they tried desperately to pacify her. Eventually, she stormed off, grumbling and cursing all the way back home.

Back at home, I sat waiting for Gwaggo's return. The moment she stepped through the door, she snapped, "Deeje, come here!"

I hurried over, and wham!—she delivered a resounding knock to my head that made me cry out and clutch the spot. "You little mischief-maker! Were you trying to make a fool of me?! Turns out you are in a secret relationship with Bello! He claimed the moment he arrived that he was your boyfriend and apologized on that basis!"

Heartbroken and furious, I cried out, "I swear by God, Gwaggo, he's lying! He is not my boyfriend at all, he's just framing me! I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind!"

Knowing I was fully capable of tearing Bello apart, Gwaggo stopped me. "Deeje, are you 100% sure there's no romantic relationship between you two?"

"Yes!" I swore.

"Alright then, case closed. Now go put the cooking pot on the fire! Make us some dry bitter-leaf soup, and make sure it's as delicious as the one you made the other day."

"Okay, Gwaggo," I muttered with a scowl, still burning with rage. I wouldn't rest until I unleashed a torrent of insults on Bello for falsely claiming we were dating and trying to make my own grandmother turn against me. I stoked the fire and started cooking.

Gwaggo kept warning me from afar not to burn the food, as I cooked through gritted teeth while daydreaming. I couldn't wait for tomorrow to come so I could run and tell Zeenatu all about Bello's outrageous lies.

The next morning, I woke up for early prayers. Gwaggo didn't even bother waking me up, knowing that formal prayer obligations hadn't fully applied to me yet—after all, I was only eleven years old when all these dramatic escapades were happening!

I ate the leftover food Gwaggo had left out, washed up, threw on my school uniform, picked up my kosai and bus fare, and headed straight to Zeenatu's house.

The moment I arrived, I spilled the entire story to her. "Are you telling me he got away scot-free?" she gasped.

"Not a chance in hell! I'll make sure I find out who's going to rescue him from Deeje's traps!" I declared.

We burst into laughter and high-fived. Zeenatu urged, "Come on, let's get to school before Uncle Sani flays our skin like a donkey's hide with his cane!"

We rushed out of the house toward the bus stop. As it turned out, the morning assembly hadn't quite ended, so we casually walked in and took our seats. Fauziyya glared at us, but we completely ignored her—we had no time for her today; our minds were entirely set on dealing with Bello.

As soon as we stepped into the classroom, Uncle Sani was already there. "You two are late again! Do you ever wake up early from sleep?" he barked. "Oya, on your knees!"

We stared at each other blankly, not quite processing what he meant. He snatched a cane from the class monitor and started lashing us, shouting, "Bend down and lower your heights! Why are you standing straight like newly planted trees?!"

That day, we received such a thorough beating that I whispered to Zeenatu, "I swear, I'm quitting formal school and going back to Qur'an school (allo)—at least there you get spiritual reward for your studies. Western school is pure oppression! Look at Uncle Sani with his massive head and beanpole height. They were right when they said tall people keep half their brains in their knees!" We burst into quiet laughter.

"Oh! So you're turning me into a madman now, are you? Khadijah, Auwal, and Zeenatu Ismail—get up and follow me right now!" Uncle Sani thundered.

We trailed behind him out of the classroom to a massive, foul-smelling dumpsite behind the block and were ordered to clean it up.

"By the Qur'an, I am not cleaning up this filth!" I protested. "Illness is going to strike me out of nowhere; someone else can do it!"

"Is that what you said? Well, today you might just get expelled from this school!" he threatened, storming off to the headmaster's office to report us.

The headmaster let out a deep sigh and said, "I am honestly tired of Deeje's constant disciplinary cases. Expelling her would be the easiest thing in the world... but her grandmother breaks my heart. She explained everything to me—the girl is an orphan, and if we kick her out, her wild behavior will only escalate into total madness. Besides, book-learning isn't even her primary interest."

He summoned us to his office. The moment we walked in, we knelt down flat on the floor to greet him.

"Khadijah Auwal and your friend," the headmaster said, "I am utterly exhausted by your endless cases, but I am going to take one final definitive measure against you both. Now, go back to your class."

He sat Uncle Sani down and explained the situation, reminding him that they were village children who needed patience and guidance. "If we just keep expelling them, we won't achieve our educational goals. Please bear with her, Sani; I know the exact measure I'm going to take."

When we returned to class, the closing bell rang, and we were slapped with extra punishment. By the time we finally got home, my body ached all over. I took some medicine and collapsed into bed, only waking up late in the afternoon. I strolled over to Bello's street, only to be told that he had traveled out of town for his mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC). With a mixture of disappointment and relief, I walked back home.

(Page 2)

We were walking home and chatting—me, Zeenatu, Maryam, and Abida—having just returned from the riverbank where we usually went to do our laundry on days we had no school. We were terribly hungry.

"Zeenatu, I am starving," I complained.

"Me too," she echoed.

Spotting a peanut farm, we sneaked inside and started pulling up fresh peanuts to eat. "I swear, raw peanuts taste so good!" I declared.

"Listen to her!" Zeenatu laughed. "Even though Abida is the one who brought us into this forbidden zone, we're all enjoying the loot." We burst into laughter.

Suddenly, the farm owner spotted us! Armed with a massive wooden branch, he charged straight at us yelling curses. We grabbed our laundry basins and bolted out of the farm as fast as our legs could carry us, while he hurled threats behind us: "I'm going to deal with you senseless thieves!"

Further down the road, we spotted a massive orchard overflowing with ripe fruit. I locked my eyes on a gorgeous, deeply reddened mango hanging high up. "Today, no matter what happens, I am eating that mango!" I declared.

"Are you crazy, Deeje?!" Maryam warned. "You better think twice before stepping in there—did you forget this orchard belongs to the village king (Mai gari)?"

"So what? They're sitting comfortably in luxury while we starve! I'm climbing up there to harvest it, and if they catch me, let them slaughter me!" I retorted.

"Well, let's go in then!" the others agreed.

We dropped our laundry basins by the edge of the wall. I was wearing an oversized pair of baggy trousers and a shirt big enough for two people to fit into, topped with a worn-out hijab that had seen better days. I whipped off the hijab, tied it around my waist like a utility belt, rolled up my trousers and sleeves, scrambled up the towering brick wall, and dropped inside the compound with a triumphant grin.

"Wait here outside, I'll toss the fruit down to you," I instructed them. True to my word, the moment I plucked the mangoes, I threw them down to the girls, who collected them right beside our laundry basins.

Not seeing anyone around, I shinned up a massive mango tree and started picking fruit furiously. I hurled a particularly large mango downward—thud!—right onto the head of one of the palace guards who happened to be patrolling the area.

Startled, the guard let out a yelp and leaped backward in a panic. I burst into peals of laughter from my perch up in the tree.

"I swear by the Qur'an, I just got hit!" the guard stammered to his companion. "I told you there are tree spirits haunting these orchards!"

"Damn right I got hit! That stone-throw came straight from the spirit realm!" the other guard yelled, dragging his shaken colleague away toward safety.

Once I had harvested enough fruit for all of us, I started climbing down. Suddenly, I spotted several massive, furry guard dogs pacing around the base of the tree, growling menacingly. Panicking, I scrambled back up into the branches.

The dogs heard the rustling and started barking furiously. I let out a piercing shriek as one of the hounds made a ferocious leap, narrowly missing my leg as it snapped at empty air.

Just then, the palace guards rushed back into the orchard with flashlights, scanning the area until their eyes landed on me perched up in the tree, completely disheveled. "A jungle spirit showing up in broad daylight?! Well, we've caught a real catch today!" they gasped, before bolting back toward the palace to report to the king that they had captured a supernatural entity.

True to village fashion, within minutes the king himself, accompanied by his son the crown prince, marched into the orchard to inspect the captured "spirit."

Meanwhile, Zeenatu and the other girls had long since fled for their lives back home at the first sign of trouble.

Prince Abdallah stepped forward, declaring with an air of royal arrogance, "You, spirit of the trees who dares manifest in broad daylight, why did you choose this place as your lair? Let it be known that today, I, Prince Abdallah the son of the king, shall execute you!"

Terrified at the sight of a glittering sword pointed directly at my face, I shrieked at the top of my lungs, "My fellow human beings, I swear to God I am human! Please spare my life, Gwaggo doesn't even know I came here!" I dropped straight to my knees on the branch.

The King raised a hand and ordered, "Hold your weapons! Truth be told, she's clearly no spirit—just look at her."

Prince Abdallah, bristling with royal pride, demanded, "Well then, whose permission did you enter with, and how did you sneak in here?!"

Hearing him throw around the word "father" in such a haughty tone completely stripped away my fear. Staring him down, I shot back, "Shut up, Prince! Are you really going to insult my father over a bunch of mangoes?!"

"What? You dare talk back to me?!" he snapped, stepping forward and landing a resounding slap across my face that sent me tumbling off the lower branch onto the ground. "In this entire village, is there anyone who dares talk back to me and get away with it?!"

The palace guards muttered nervously, "Please show restraint, Your Highness."

The King raised a hand to halt his son and asked me, "Young girl, why did you break in here? Did something belonging to you fall inside, or what?"

"Lying is a grave sin, I swear to God, neither of those!" I replied defiantly, rubbing my stinging cheek. "I was starving, and knowing I'd probably faint before reaching home, I climbed over this wall just to find something to put in my mouth!"

The King let out a heavy, gravelly sigh, looking at me with deep contemplation.

Prince Abdallah scoffed, "I thought you were out of your mind when you broke in, but it turns out you're just a lunatic!"

"I am not a lunatic! I have all my senses intact!" I fired back. "You people hoard all this fruit, letting it rot while we have nothing! You don't eat it, and you won't give it to starving people who go to bed hungry, and you act like it's no big deal!"

The prince lunged forward to strike me again, but the King stopped him with a single raised hand. Fuming with bitter hatred, the prince stepped back, glaring at me as if he wanted to strangle me with his bare hands.

The King looked down at me and asked calmly, "Are you claiming that the townspeople want the produce we grow here, but lack the means to harvest it, so they just suffer in silence? Every end of the month, I personally order fifty bags of assorted fruit to be harvested and distributed freely to the poor and townspeople. Where on earth is that food going?!"

Prince Abdallah scoffed, "Father, don't believe a word she says! I can already tell she's mentally unstable."

"My mind is perfectly fine! I am only speaking the absolute truth!" I countered.

The King's expression softened. Deep down, he knew corruption and embezzlement were happening right under his nose, and he resolved to keep a close eye on his officials.

He asked me, "Young girl, which neighborhood in this village do you live in?"

"New Number Street," I replied.

The King turned to his guards and commanded, "Go harvest every single variety of fruit available here, pack them into sacks, and escort this girl safely back to her home before evening sets in."

"As you command, Your King," the guards responded.

True to his word, they escorted me all the way to our doorstep, carrying heavy sacks of fruit. By then, word had already spread like wildfire through the neighborhood that King Usman had arrested Deeje and thrown her in the palace dungeons. Seeing me walk back escorted by the royal guards caused quite a sensation!

I called out to Gwaggo, who rushed out of the house in absolute panic, crying, "Deeje, is that really you? I've been crying my eyes out thinking they executed you, and I couldn't even go to the palace!" Gwaggo was actually shedding genuine tears.

I burst into laughter. "Oh, Gwaggo, death is still a long way off for me! Look at me, I'm just a little girl—now look at what the King gave me!"

"King Usman actually gave you all this, Deeje?!" Gwaggo gasped in disbelief.

"Yes! He even sent his royal guards to escort me home."

Naturally, the local gossips came swarming over to find out what had happened. When I recounted the dramatic tale, they listened in stunned silence. Later, Zeenatu and the girls came over, and we laughed uncontrollably.

"You know," I told them, "that prince I saw—I swear he looks like an Arab, but he is pure evil incarnate!" We laughed away the rest of the evening until they had to head home.

Summary

The narrative follows Deeje (Khadijah), an 11-year-old orphan living with her grandmother (Gwaggo) in Kukawa village, Borno State. Known for her fiery temper, sharp tongue, and knack for getting into trouble, Deeje's daily life is a whirlwind of comedic chaos.

The story opens with Deeje launching a stone at a local boy named Salisu for refusing to pay for her akara (kosai), leading to a hilarious police intervention where Gwaggo fiercely defends her "innocent" granddaughter. Deeje's life revolves around school (Kukawa Primary School), running errands, frying kosai, clashing with rivals like Fauziyya and Bello (who falsely accuses her of dating him), and leaning on her loyal friends like Zeenatu.

The adventure peaks when Deeje, driven by hunger, sneaks into the heavily guarded royal orchard of the local King to steal mangoes. Caught by guards and brought before the King and his arrogant son, Prince Abdallah, Deeje fearlessly chews out the prince for his cruelty and exposes systemic corruption regarding food distribution to the poor. Impressed by her raw honesty and realizing his officials are embezzling aid, the King spares her and sends her home escorted by royal guards laden with gifts of fresh fruit, much to the shock and awe of her village.

Description

• Protagonist: Deeje (Khadijah) — an 11-year-old, fiercely independent, quick-witted, and unyielding orphan who refuses to be intimidated by anyone, wielding her sharp tongue and stones as defense mechanisms.
• Key Supporting Characters:
  • Gwaggo: Deeje's protective, eccentric grandmother who fiercely defends her yet disciplines her strictly.
  • Salisu, Bello, & Fauziyya: Local antagonists who constantly clash with Deeje's explosive personality.
  • Zeenatu: Deeje's loyal partner-in-crime and school friend.
  • King Usman & Prince Abdallah: The benevolent ruler and his hot-tempered, proud son who cross paths with Deeje during her orchard escapade.
• Setting: Kukawa village in Borno State, featuring a vibrant rural ecosystem with local markets, riverbanks, primary schools, and royal palaces.
• Themes: Resilience of marginalized orphans, childhood mischief, authority vs. rebellion, social justice, and community gossip in Northern Nigerian rural life.

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