A dim silence.

The night before was a stinking memory. It still came fresh in  Emeka's thoughts like a dark stain on a white fabric. He sat befuddled like a stranger in the middle of nowhere, his eyes darting around every corner of his room like an owl. His knees were gradually trembling and he softly tapped his feet on the floor as a subtle means to control his fragile nerves. His hands were locked against his chest with his chin resting on his hands. He was tickled by the sweat that spontaneously drenched his armpits and rolled down to his ribs, suspending at the base of his buttocks. The words of Ifechi had continued to echo in his mind like a loud music in an empty room. Despite his attempts to suppress them, streams of thoughts have kept perching around carelessly in his feeble mind like a legion of houseflies savouring fresh faeces. "How could she say that she is pregnant for me? How could Ifechi threaten to end me if I deny my responsibility as the father of her unborn child?" He seemed to have forgotten that he was the only one in the room as he looked around to know if any one had heard him. He breathed out in relief when he realized that he is all alone. Ifechi had visited the previous night to break what seemed like a bad news to Emeka. When she told him about her intention to visit that evening, he was super excited. He jumped up and down on his bed with joy__the expectation of fun was driving him crazy. Such moments came only once in a while and Emeka was ready to savour every bit of it. He swept and cleaned everywhere to a stunning brightness. He arranged his curtains and beddings, giving it a royal look. He rushed to the bathroom to take a fresh bath, disregarding the fact that he took his bath just a few minutes back. He sang melodiously from his bathroom like a bird that caught a grasshopper on a sunny winter evening. His head was swollen with joy as balls of water from his sturdy body precipitated the hard floor carelessly. His seemingly spontaneous happiness was cut short when his head engaged in an ugly romance with the bathroom door frame. The pain was an excruciating one that left Emeka turning on his bed as he dabbed the scathed spot with his left palm. Just then, he heard a knock on the door.