No more

Esther looked up at the wall to check the time on the clock that hang in their pharmacy, it was 10 p.m. Only one more hour to go and she could then leave and go home to eat and sleep. She longed for the comfort of her bed, though she only spent a mere four hours a night in it. She longed for when she could get a day off and actually sleep in. It had been more than two months of her working daily from seven in the morning till eleven at night. She was exhausted, burnt out but she could not complain lest she get a tongue lashing from her boss who also happened to be her husband. A few minutes later, a man who looked like he was in his late forties entered the pharmacy so Esther rose to serve him. 

“Hello, how are you doing today?” she asked him.

“I have been coughing for three days now and I have taken some medicine known as cetirizine but it hasn’t helped.”

“Do you feel pain in your chest when you cough?”

“Yes, I do.”

“When you cough, do you expectorate sputum?”

“Yes.”

“Does the cough worsen at night or early in the morning?”

“No, it’s pretty much the same at all times of the day. I am also experiencing chills.”

“It seems that you may have a chest infection so I will give you an antibiotic, cough syrup and some steroids to help ease the symptoms.”

“Alright, how much will that cost?”

“All the medicine will cost a thousand Kenyan shillings. Please go pay at the cashier then come back with the receipt.” Esther said as she went into the back of the pharmacy to retrieve a penicillin, cough syrup and prednisolone for the client. She then went back to the counter and began assembling the medicine for the client. He came back with a receipt and she gave him instructions on how to take the medicine.

“You will take the penicillin twice a day an hour before you eat your meals. Take the prednisolone once a day as soon as you wake up in the morning and drink ten milliltres of the cough syrup thrice a day. Feel better and have a good night.”

“Thank you doctor,” the client replied and he walked out of the pharmacy.

Esther sat on a chair and awaited the next client and she began to ponder about her life and how she had ended up working in a pharmacy. She had no educational background or training in the medical field or whatsoever. The highest education level she had attained was a high school education and she had not gotten good enough grades to help her secure a job in a university or college. She had barely completed high school when she had met her husband, Antony. He had been a kind, generous charming young man or so he seemed. He wooed her by taking her out to nice restaurants, nature walks and trips outside of their home town, Nyeri. He had been a fourth year student in the university studying biochemistry and she felt proud that she had managed to get the attention of a guy in university. He completed his university degree and they got married a year later. Antony secured a job as a sales and marketing agent for a pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Antony had been kind for the first few months but as time went by he began to show his true colours.

It began by him criticizing the way she cooked and cleaned the house and clothes. He would often complain that they were not clean enough and command her to redo the cleaning even at night. He said he couldn’t sleep in a filthy house. Then he began to complain that she had too many friends who would derail her so he ordered her to not associate with them anymore. He then began insulting her all kinds of names when she made mistakes. She remembered a time when she was serving him tea and she accidentally spilled some on the table. “Useless woman! Idiot! Don’t you have eyes? You are wasting food as if you pay for anything around here!” He shouted at her. She had thought he would change when they had children but he became even more cruel.

 Later, he decided to start a pharmacy business and he didn’t trust his employees so he told her to learn about medicine and illnesses from him and the other employees so that she could run the business as the manager. She learned the names of medicines and how to treat patients if they presented with certain signs and symptoms and she became good at it. Antony wanted his pharmacy to run for many hours so he demanded that she be present during all opening hours from seven in the morning to eleven at night all days of the week. He would correct her mistakes in front of the other employees and sometimes even clients and she would feel humiliated. The pharmacy was doing quite well and he would often boast about its success to his friends and colleagues.

Esther was now getting sleepy and she closed her eyes for a few minutes. “Esther! How dare you sleep during working hours?” Antony bellowed as he marched into the pharmacy his face red with anger. She immediately stood up and, in a panic, she said, “Sorry, I wasn’t asleep.” “What kind of behavior are you modelling to our employees? They will think it is okay to slack at work.” She remained silent as the other employee, June, who was her only friend exchanged glances with her. June knew better than to interject as she knew he would turn his anger towards her and she was not in the mood to be yelled at.

“ Why haven’t you guys organized the medicines properly in their shelves? Must I tell you how to do everything? No one is going home tonight until all these drugs are organized well on the shelves and cabinets. Esther sighed; her bed would have to wait a little longer for her. She maybe in the pharmacy until midnight yet she was still expected to be back here by seven a.m. the next day. Antony then sat down in one of the customer’s seats as he watched his wife and June organize the drugs on the shelves knowing full well it is a task that could have been put off until the next day.

At around midnight, they closed the pharmacy and headed home together. When they arrived at their home, Antony told his wife, “I want to eat chapati and beef stew.” Esther who was beyond exhausted shot him an evil look and said, “it will take me two hours to cook chapati and I still have to wake up early to prepare the kids for school. I cant do it now. Lets just have yesterday’s leftovers and I can cook chapati another d…” she didn’t even finish her sentence, a slap landed on the right side of her face, followed by another on the left. “ Who do you think you are talking to like that? You are my wife, aren’t you? You are supposed to cook for me. Why else did I marry you? After everything I do for you, you cant make chapatis for me?” Antony shouted at his wife. Esther held a hand to where she had been slapped and suddenly felt all the rage that had been simmering in her come to her hand. She clenched her fist and with all her might she punched Antony in the face sending him sprawling across the floor. She could still feel the anger burning inside her and she followed him to the floor and sat on him, punching him continuously in the face. She then stood up and started kicking him in the stomach and she began to say, “All you do for me? What have you done for me except bully me for the last twenty years? I have served you, cleaned your clothes, washed your house, ran your pharmacy as you are out drinking with your friends and then you dare hit me. If you ever hit me again I will kill you.” Antony tried to protect himself from the blows but he couldn’t. “Sorry Esther. Am sorry,” he begged until she finally stopped kicking him. “Don’t you ever lay your hand on me again and one more thing, I will not open the pharmacy at seven in the morning. If you want it open that early you go and open it. I will not step foot in that pharmacy for the next week. I am taking a leave.” Esther said as she stormed off towards the bedroom. “No more,” she muttered to herself as she got into the sheets.