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 for your patience, we have a winner. Join me in awarding the title of Mr. Muscle to Jasper Jackson of Valdosta, Georgia. He jumped and thrust his hand into the air before giving the audience a few more muscle crunching moves. Blanche and Rufus jumped up and down, and hugged, seemed like the natural thing to do. A moment later Jasper jumped from the stage, took the librarian in his arms, picked her up, smearing her clothing with body oil and spun her around in a triumphant dance of celebration. She didn’t quite know how to react but gave him a kiss on the cheek and congratulated the hulking giant for his win. He placed the little woman down and picked up Rufus in a monster bear hug and repeated the same happy dance.
“Can’t believe I won. I really won! Thanks so much for comin' Blanche. You were my inspiration tonight, could notta done it without ya cheerin' me on,” Jasper said, trying to catch his breath.
