“You already drank it all, man.”
“Nevertheless…”
“Wait!” Milo interrupted, “Here’s a place I can ask somebody.”
Before Harvey could reply, Milo pulled the car to a screeching
halt in front of a diner. It was a bizarre-looking establishment,
particularly for something out in the middle of nowhere. Harvey had
never seen such a mishmash of styles on a building before, though his
educated eye picked out some classical architectural motifs that had
been used. It featured Corinthian fluted columns from the Roman
Empire, medieval flying buttresses, baroque ornamentation and even
minarets in the Islamic tradition. Looking closer, he found further
examples of exotic influences: Balinese gargoyles, a pyramid smack-
dab in the middle of the roof, and some Indian Jain carvings. The
entire structure seemed to be fashioned from some kind of Spanish
adobe, and reinforced with bamboo. It was a glorious mess, yes, but
a mess nonetheless.
“Give me your keys,” insisted Harvey.
“Fuck you, man. What do you mean ‘give me your keys’?”
“Listen, whippersnapper. I have decided that I need some
assurance that you will take me to the police. Being stranded in the
middle of the desert is not my idea of a good time, and despite your
scintillating personality, I don’t wish to meander forever with you on
your quest for some holy smoke. I will give them back once we are
finished here. I am actually a bit parched and somewhat peckish.”
Milo thought about this for a moment. “You paying?” he finally
said.
“If you wish,” he said, resigned that this would be the last time
he’d donate any money to Sleazy Rider. Milo handed him the keys
and took a closer look at the construction in front of him.
“What the fuck is this place, man?”
“Pangaea,” Harvey read on a sign that displayed the name of the
restaurant in fourteen languages.
“Pangaea?” said Milo. “This a pancake house?”
Harvey said, “Pangaea refers to a contiguous land mass that
existed eons ago on earth.”
“Oh, yeah, and, like, continental drift pulled it apart to make the
seven continents,” Milo remarked.
Harvey looked at him incredulously, to which Milo responded:
“What? You think you’re the only
vato
who watches the Discovery
channel? Still, a name like that, I bet they serve pancakes.”
H O L Y S H I T !
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