A chance meeting...

The random meeting on the corner of California and 25th had been a surprise to all three of the brothers. A few years back while begging for change outside of a bar in the Castro, Spanky heard news that Alfalfa had served his time for stabbing Stymie and had now relocated in the city. After Darla had whored around amongst The Little Rascals, the bad blood never seemed to have dissolved... leaving only cold memories of soap box races and the night that Buckwheat disappeared in the woods. Alfalfa had just broken his last ten dollar bill to purchase a pack of Chesterfields. He lit the smoke, inhaling and releasing a small cough just before raising his head and suddenly found himself staring directly into the eyes of his old friend. The years had been kind to Spanky. Hustling the strip had been lucrative for many years and his face didn't seem to show the wear and tear of such a profession. The sparkle had left his eyes, however. After seeing Porky hauled into a back alley, beaten, and left for dead he could never shake the image from his nightmare dreams. Cautious hugs and laughter followed but all of the merriment seemed to be forced. After all of these years they still had little to say to each other. Alfalfa used a payphone at the Laundromat just up the street. He had to call upon his old friend Buckwheat for a place to stay for the night. Buckwheat had been a professional wrestler for the last few years and was now living off of his insurance settlement after a nasty spill from the top rope. His apartment was small but the couch was always available for those who needed it. It was good to see old friends again. Perhaps now, life would finally take a turn for the better.



The trip to the Bay City had been planned long before he was nabbed for embezzling from the company's fund put aside for the purchase of shoes for retarded children. Bruce often called it, "A liberation of funds from the evil hands of greedy self-righteous cocksuckers," but everyone knew that it was just petty theft. The plea bargain knocked off a couple of years of hard time but he would never forget the last scuffle in the yard when a large man that had befriended him named "Mary" died at the hands of Alfalfa. Mary had always loved Bruce like a brother and never fully took advantage of his monstrous size. Bruce vowed revenge after seeing his friend killed in such a heinous manner. Alfalfa was freed into the world before Bruce could wrap his hands firmly around his throat. Upon release Bruce was fashioned with a tracking bracelet. He didn't mind the idea of someone tracking his every movement or the extended probation. He knew that when his job of claiming revenge for Mary's death was done that the future only promised death or a return to the yard. Perhaps the thing that bothered Bruce the most was that the tracking bracelet was so damn cumbersome. It weighted 115lbs and would incessantly talk of things like "marriage" and "live shots." He didn't really understand the constant gibberish pouring out from his tracking bracelet but he couldn't ignore the fact that it was eating all of his food. Bruce's probation didn't allow sharp objects to be in his possession and he often wondered how much pain would be involved if he had so chosen to chew his way through the muscle and bone that this bracelet was attached to. For now he was pleased with simply being in the same city as his archenemy, Alfalfa. Soon vengeance would be his.



Alfalfa was actually surprised that Darla had tracked him down again after all of these years. Apparently Buckwheat had written her a few letters over the years... mostly consisting of Christmas cards and pictures of the "Old Days." The picnic meeting was a comfortable place to sort out all of the details of the past. The freshly cut grass reminded Darla of the hill where the gang used to meet. Her eyes welled with wet as she looked into Alfalfa's face... he looked older than she remembered but her memories had faded from all of the years in isolation. She took a bite of the Tuna Sandwich that she had packed for the picnic instantly realizing that Tuna was a poor choice for such a hot day. Perhaps the milk would have stayed fresh if it had been frozen but the bus ride was longer than she had anticipated. In the end she was just happy to see him again... and his stupid hair.