Three Years Ago…
In the city of Kano, in a neighborhood called Gandun Albasa, there was a small house.
Just by looking at the house, anyone would know that it belonged to a poor family. From the outside, there was a door that led into a small hallway. In that hallway, there was a room with a small bathroom inside. Walking further, you would reach the open courtyard of the house, which was covered in sand instead of cement. Even though the courtyard was quite large, it was well-swept and clean.
On one side of the courtyard, there were four rooms lined up in a row. At the far end, there was a small bathroom area, hidden behind an old rusty metal door. Opposite the bathroom was the kitchen, which had no door at all. However, the inside of the kitchen was too dark to see because the walls were blackened by years of cooking with firewood.
In the middle of the courtyard, a young girl, about 14 years old, was sweating heavily. She was kneeling on the ground with her hands raised in the air. On each of her palms, she was holding a large football shoe.
She tried to adjust her position slightly, but in doing so, the shoe in her left hand almost fell. She was already in a state of panic—scared of the harsh sun and even more scared of being beaten. In her confusion, she accidentally dropped the shoe in her right hand while trying to hold on to the left one.
Before she could react, a long whip landed on her raised hands with full force. The pain was so much that she dropped the remaining shoe and collapsed on the ground.
The beating continued without mercy. The sound of the whip and her loud cries filled the air.
"Mama! Mama!! Mama!!!" she screamed desperately.
Inside one of the rooms, her mother sat helplessly. She had heard everything from the beginning but could do nothing. She shut her eyes tightly as tears rolled down her cheeks, silently praying for someone to come and save her daughter.
And then, as if her prayers had been answered, someone suddenly grabbed the whip from the man’s hand.
Angrily, the man turned around, ready to shout. But as soon as he saw who it was, he froze.
Standing before him was a young, handsome man. His eyes were large and deep, his hair and eyebrows were full, and he had a sharp, straight nose. His lips were not too big, and his skin was a smooth, glowing chocolate colour not too dark, not too light.
He stared back at the man, his eyes filled with anger.
