For a couple Mainers used to being surrounded by trees, it is somewhat mind bending to experience the hundreds of miles of huge ,open, empty expanse. We had heard the expression "big sky". Now we know...
We drove up Route 285 through Vance where we stopped on Robert and Liama's advice at Penny's Diner. Old school silver sided, tube design structure. We sat at the counter and the 2 girls serving were very businesslike and uncommunicative. The cook had more grease in his hair than on his grill. I ordered a couple tacos, rice and beans which were very good. The waitress with the purple glitter in her hair began washing dishes in the sink directly in front of us, not making eye contact. That wasn't going to last...
"Are you Penny?, I asked.
She looked shocked that someone has spoken to her."What?"she said.
"The sign says Penny's Diner. Are you Penny?" I repeated.
"No" she muttered think the conversation was over and who was this weird guy anyways.
I chewed another bite of taco and after a few moments asked "Where's Penny?"
She made eye contact then. It wasn't hostile, but on the Moh's hardness scale ( remember from Earth Science? Talc is 1 and Diamonds are 10 and everything in between?) she was about an 8.75. "She's dead..." She held my gaze probably thinking 'well that should shut you up...'
I put my taco back in my plate and wiped my mouth with my napkin before I asked "Did the food kill her...?"
The faintest glimmer of a smile rushed across her face like the shadows from the clouds we had been watching race across the desert and she went back to washing dishes.
Connie was so upset with me that she spent the next 5 minutes complimenting her hair and her jewelry and her shoes... I laughed all the way to Encino.
Who has more fun than people...
1 comment:
Penny's not dead. She lives in Maine.
Post a Comment