Читать книгу The Three of U.S.: A New Life in New York - Peter Godwin - Страница 8

I am more than a week late now. On the back of the packet it proclaims the Answer Test is so sensitive it can detect pregnancy within twenty-four hours of an overdue period. On the front it claims to be ‘99 per cent accurate!’ so I think perhaps the test is past its sell-by date. I didn’t much trust the pharmacist who sold it to me. He looked shifty and I had to wait for ages while a tall, balding man was interrogating him about Viagra, Pfizer’s wonder drug to overcome ‘erectile dysfunction’.

‘How much is it?’ he asked in a heavy Hispanic whisper.

‘It’s about ten bucks a shot, but you can only get it on prescription,’ said the pharmacist.

‘Ten bucks? Each tablet is ten bucks?’ demanded the man, louder and alarmed.

‘Yes, but it’s only available on prescription,’ the pharmacist repeated, tidying the breath mints by the till. ‘I can’t just sell it over the counter, you need a doctor’s recommendation.’

‘Oh it’s not for me,’ said the customer hastily. ‘It’s for my friend.’

‘Then you tell your friend he has to see a doctor before he can get some.’

‘But this is not possible,’ the customer replied. ‘My friend, he is in Brazil. He is desperate …’

‘Tell you what,’ said the pharmacist, lowering his voice, ‘come back around seven p.m. when things are a little quieter round here, and I’ll see what I can do for you, OK?’

‘Seven p.m. today? I’ll be here, seven p.m. Thank you, thank you.’

‘But you better tell your friend how much this stuff is gonna cost him, OK?’ said the pharmacist.

‘I tell him, I tell him exactly,’ said the customer, giving him a discreet thumbs up and hurrying out of the store.