Summary

“A Failed Woman” - A dockworker named Nwakusor has a narrow escape from being hit by a bus on his way home after a night shift at work. In the aftermath of the near accident, he notices a commotion near a bridge. First he discovers that a crowd is trying to keep a woman from committing suicide, and then he notices that it is Nnu Ego, whom he recognizes because they are from the same village. He fights his way through the crowd, calling to her. For a moment she stops, but then fights Nwakusor who cries out that she should be thinking of her child and her family. Other people join in, one woman actually slapping Nnu Ego and telling her she is shaming her womanhood. Nnu Ego starts to cry, and shouts out her explanation: that her child has died. Nwakusor...