With Cruel Intent (27 page)

the only one dressed so modestly

appearing on stage tonight. He welcomed

the crowd who responded with hoots and

hollers, except for the timid Blanche, who

clapped in her own unassuming way.

Rufus, on the other hand, was making

enough noise for both of them. The MC

explained the rules of the competition and

introduced the three judges seated at a

long table in front of the stage, a pitcher of

water and glasses with ice, before each

judge, as well as pads and pens. The

women’s portion of the evening would

start, beginning with the mandatory

portion of the event. Blanche understood,

based on the explanation, that contestants

must present themselves on stage and

perform a set series of poses to display

their overall fitness and physique. Scores

would be tabulated and recorded, and then

the second half of the competition would

begin. It was deemed ‘freestyle’ and was

set to music. The bodybuilders were

allowed 90 seconds to wow the crowd

with whatever moves and poses they saw

fit. Again, this would be scored and the

highest overall tally would be reigned Ms.

Muscle or Mr. Muscle, respectively.

Blanche had no idea what to

expect, she’d never seen such a

competition either on television or live.

There were seven men and seven women

vying for the titles. The original field of

applicants had been over a hundred but the

judges had looked at photos and past

performances to determine who would

compete in the final seven. The women

were introduced one by one as they

walked onto the stage, each wore a small

cover up that they dropped to the floor

when they reached their marker on the

stage floor and their name was announced.

The male portion of the audience greeted

the dropping of the shroud with exuberant

applause and catcalls. The women were a

bit too mannish for Blanche’s taste but

they were in phenomenal shape, each

muscle

group

well

defined

and

shimmering in the lights as the oil

reflected the multi directional beams.

There were four black ladies, two

Caucasian and a Filipino; the heaviest of

the group was 195 lbs of rock solid

muscle. As far as the toned, but less than

muscular Delaney could tell, most of the

women appeared to have breast implants,

some more natural looking than the others.

The smallest of the group was the

Southeast Asian, she stood 5’ 4” and

weighed only 150 lbs, but she was very

well proportioned and perhaps even had

natural breasts, at least what was left of

them. Apparently, Blanche gathered,

bodybuilding

was

not

for

women

interested in keeping a full, natural

bustline. She noted that the women were

all quite dark except for their faces. It was

obvious that they were tanning from the

neck down but avoiding their faces, even

the black contestants. She filed away in

her memory a question for Jasper

regarding this observation.

The contest began with the larger

of the Caucasian women, and before she

was allowed to start, the judge reminded

the audience to be respectful of the ladies

and keep the sexual epitaphs to a

minimum. Concentration was needed and

the contestants had worked hard to get to

this stage of the competition. That said, the

first ran through her routine, demonstrating

the various mandatory poses, exited the

stage to the rampant applause of many in

the audience.

“Must have a lot of family here,”

Blanche thought, looking over her

shoulder at the people clapping in wild

abandons.

This repeated itself six more times

until the compulsory portion of the

competition was over. Blanche favored

the smaller woman but each could hold the

title as far as she could tell. Amazing what

one can do with their body, a barbell,

hours of spare time and hard work in a

gym, Blanche concluded, and determined

to make sure she allowed time for a run in

the morning.

The men’s portion began a few

moments later, giving the women a chance

to change and prepare for the freestyle

portion of the program. The men, one by

one, entered the stage sans cover up, each

taking up a spot on the platform and did a

couple of quick poses to the delight and

thunderous applause of the audience.

Jasper was number four in the lineup and

Blanche had to admit he looked good,

very good, all shiny and pumped up. He

gave her a quick wink when he’d

concluded his introduction; she applauded

and waved in return.

Rufus was much more excited than

Blanche, he stood and stomped his foot on

the ground and chanted, “Whoot, Whoot

Jasper - Whoot, Whoot Jasper!” Bringing

even more applause from the revved up

audience.

Much like the women’s portion

had been, the men each had their time on

stage to display their physiques and their

ability to present a set routine of poses.

Each contestant was very muscular. Jasper

was the tallest of the bunch, but not the

thickest. One fellow had extremely broad

shoulders, giving the illusion that he was

as big around through the chest and arms

as he was tall. The smallest of the group

again appeared to be of Asian descent,

was well proportioned but perhaps not as

defined as the rest of the field. Blanche,

oddly enough, felt more comfortable

watching the men’s portion of the

competition than the women’s, but she

found herself enjoying both. At the

conclusion of the men’s compulsory, the

women started into the freestyle.

“This looks like it should be fun,”

she leaned over and said to Rufus, who

had his eyes glued on the stage in

anticipation of the first female competitor.

“Oh, yeah, dis is gonna be good,

ah ight, rea good!” he indicated, without

taking his eyes from the stage.

The first woman waltzed onto the

stage, a different suit barely covering her

unmentionables, and a popular tune with

lots of percussion began thumping out a

beat. She moved, flexed, pirouetted and

shook her ‘things’ like nobody's business.

Blanche found herself looking around,

expecting the police department to raid the

place, but none did and the audience

members, women and men alike, got into

the groove with the young woman and

cheered her on until the final note played.

Again, this carried on for six more

contestants, each tune somewhat different,

some having more dance skills than

others, but each uniquely talented and

possessing a body blown up beyond its

normal

limits.

The

judges

madly

conversed with one another, frantically

writing down notes, as the dancing and

flexing finally concluded. Blanche felt like

she needed to get home and take a shower.

The awarding of the Ms. Muscle title

would be postponed until the men had

completed their side of the event.

Blanche was surprised to see the

men do basically the same thing but with

somewhat less finesse. After all, how to

you bump and grind 300 lbs of muscle and

make it look appealing? However, when

Jasper took the stage, she was in awe at

how well he could move that huge

physique? She was also surprised that he

had been able to find a thong swimsuit

smaller than the one he’d worn in the first

half of the competition. The massive

bodybuilder played well to the audience

but went out of his way to look in her

direction as he worked his way through

the 90 seconds of music. Again, Blanche

was impressed with all the contestants,

thinking that any of them could hold the

title.

“What’s the deal with this Jasper

character?” ‘Rob’ said, loud enough for

the guy two rows ahead of him to hear.

“She got something going with this black

guy?” again he said aloud, but somewhat

more subdued. He didn’t want one of the

local brotha’s to take exception and beat

the shit out of him over the remark. He

was more than a little annoyed that she

was here and obviously at the request of

the large black man. Somehow he felt

betrayed, angry that she was sneaking

around on him. “I’ll have to put a stop to

this, that’s for sure,” he said, even more

quietly than he had the other remarks.

Standing, he zoomed in as much as the

little camera would allow, and took a

picture of Jasper as he flexed his quads to

the overwhelming acceptance of the

audience. “Gross, you oversized gorilla!

I’ve got an equalizer I’ll be introducing

you to, yeah then let’s see how tough you

are.” He walked down the right side of the

auditorium until he was in a position to

take some pictures of Blanche without her

knowing. Once satisfied, he placed the

camera in his pocket, pulled his hat down

over his eyes and left the arena. He was in

the mood to deliver another message to the

people of Valdosta.

At what Blanche thought would be

the conclusion of the event, all of the

contestants were brought back onto the

stage and the runner’s up were announced

for both sexes leaving only two of each

sex left standing, still playing to the

crowd. Fortunately Jasper was one of

them, to Rufus’ jubilance. A black woman

and the Filipino stood side by side,

awaiting the judge’s decision. The

auditorium was a hush as the name was

read and the crowd burst into chants and

applause. The black woman accepted the

title, the roses and the trophy, parting with

a few poses for good measure.

The women were ushered off the

stage and the MC took to the central

microphone, “Ladies and gentlemen, we

have an unusual finale for you tonight. Our

two male competitors have tied for the

title of Mr. Muscle.” The crowd went

wild, people stomping their feet and

issuing hand breaking applause before the

MC could get them back under control.

“We are going to have a flex-off. One

song will be played, of the judges

choosing, and both men will appear on

stage at the same time. They will perform

as they see most appropriate to win them

the title of Mr. Muscle. They will have 90

seconds to impress you and the judges.

We will begin in one minute!” Blanche

was on pins and needles. Very energized,

hoping for a Jasper win. The entire event

had been very exciting and she finally felt

the thrill the audience had been feeling all

night. The two men each took to the stage

and awaited the music. Jasper positioned

himself directly in front of Rufus and

Blanche.

“Dat’s my boy, dat’s my boy,” he

said, excitedly pointing to Jasper.

The music began, and the men

flexed, bounced and jiggled for the

audience, bringing catcalls and whistles

from even the most reserved looking

women. At one segment in the music there

was a heavy thumping of the drums. Jasper

put his hands on his hips, flexing his back,

making him appear twice as wide and

whipped his package forward in a rather

‘stripper

like’

fashion.

Blanche

reflexively snapped her head back as if

she’d been hit in the forehead. He did the

move a few more times after seeing the

reaction he got from the crowd. Now she

was sure there would be a raid from the

vice squad. The music stopped and

Blanche rifled through her purse for the

hanky she hoped she had hidden there.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you