Coffee at 5 A.M. at MoJo’s (no sleep)…

I never believed this place would close. I pictured it would be available to generations of students to: ‘study’, sober up, bullshit, play chess, meet, and hang out. An Austin institution, its place in college lore cemented by film. Yet, all things must end.

In conversation with C about how quickly Austin was changing, he mentioned that MoJo’s had closed. He assumed I knew and stated it as a well-documented loss. I had not known.

Its layout was famous. First floor was coffee, tea, juice and the MoJo drink. Second floor was rumored to be occupied by the owner and his family. Rumored, because I never knew anyone who saw them and personally found it hard to believe anyone slept above the twenty-four/seven place. On the outside, every chair rescued from salvage and uneven table was occupied by students trying to escape the heat.
MoJo’s was always hot. It lacked AC, which meant that paying customers only appeared after sunset.

In underclassmen days, it was possibly for to be at MoJo’s three times a week. Honestly, I never brought a book to study. Many times MoJo’s was the final stop for the evening, 5 a.m., partied out, sleep deprived, mind fuelled by beer and caffeine. MoJo’s was the place to be when you wouldn’t go home.

MoJo’s was a fortress against the world of normalcy could not penetrate. It was the last escape of desperate kids running away from normalcy and towards invincibility.