In the Fantai neighborhood, Haɗejia local government, Jigawa state, around 8:20 PM, a young girl with a white paint bucket walks along the roadside. Her thin, clinging dress indicates the cold season. She limps on her left leg, showing signs of illness, likely sickle cell disease, evident from her pale eyes and swollen belly. She is worried because someone drank her kunu worth two hundred naira without paying. Her stepmother, Auwwa, who made the kunu, strictly forbids giving it on credit. The girl fears Auwwa's harsh punishment, often involving fire. Upon returning home, Auwwa demands the money, and when the girl explains, she is beaten and burned on her hand. The girl, Maimuna, reflects on her harsh life, having lost her parents early and being raised by the cruel Auwwa. Despite her sickle cell condition, requiring special care, she receives none. Maimuna takes her medication, palludrine and folic acid, to manage her condition, which causes severe pain and swelling.
