Minutes of Glory

This is the story of a barmaiden named Beatrice. She compares herself to a bird that wants to soar, but can't. In this, she means that she's looking for the love and affection her "coworkers" seem to get from gentlemen callers at the bars. Seeing as she can't find this, she keeps trveling to more and more bars in the hopes of finding it. One other barmaiden in particular, Nyagũthiĩ, Beatrice seems to hold a certain grudge over more than the others. She had this because of the demeanor Nyagũthiĩ had (being able to look bored and impatient) and still men would flock to her.
Beatrice, bored with her current bar, moved to a town named Ilmorog. Ilmorog was seen as a town of hope for the weary and down-trodden, but when she arrived there, it was not much different from the last place she was. By the time she got there, a substance called Ambi (something to lighten skin pigment) had arrived in Ilmorog. She tried using this to make her dreams come true, but this was not the case. After this phase, she recognizes it as one of her most humiliating periods.
After a while, a new bar opened in Ilmorog and Beatrice saw this as an opportunity. The patrons which came to this bar were, what they call, big shots(i.e. nice cars and big pockets). In any case, Beatrice took a job there as a sweeper and a bedmaker. Eventually, to her dismay, the other girls soon folowed and with them, Nyagũthiĩ.
One Saturday, a man came in which drove a fairly large truck. He would try to join in conversations with the other patrons, but would be ultimately ignored. Then, he would "hire" a room and girl for the night. He would do this every Saturday. Eventually, he started to confide in Beatrice, seeing as the others would have nothing to do with him. This led to him hiring Beatrice for the nights.
One of these nights, she robbed the man. Using this money, she left for Nairobi to buy herself a new dress, stockings and heels. It was then men started to treat her differently, buying her drinks, wanting to dance with her ect. She went back to Ilmorog and flaunted herself in the bar were she was working. The same reaction came from these men, until the man she had robbed came in with police to arrest her for stealing. Everyone in the bar then began to talk about what had happened and Nyagũthiĩ began to cry.