Gun Shy

by Lori L. Lake

  Jaylynn arrived at Central High School an hour before the competition was scheduled. She figured Dez would be there early, and sure enough, she was, dressed in gray sweats and flips, and seated on the floor next to an oversized black gym bag. She leaned against a brick wall in the hallway, her knees drawn up to her chest, and her arms around her legs. Her face and hands and feet were dyed such a deep brown that for a moment Jaylynn didn’t recognize her. Dark hair was woven together from the top of her head and down the back in a tight French braid tucked under leaving no hair on her neck. She was gazing out the side window and didn’t even notice Jaylynn until she was sliding down next to her.

  “Hey,” Jaylynn said. “How’d you sleep?”

  The dark head swung around and bright blue eyes in a mahogany-colored face surveyed her. “Hi, Jay. Okay, I guess.”

  “Which means what? Five? Six hours?”

  Dez gave her a slight smile and looked away. In truth, she had probably slept most of the last twelve hours. She actually remembered some pleasant dreams between waking every three hours when her internal clock told her she needed to eat. At this point she was so sick of protein powder, amino acid pills, romaine lettuce, and chicken breasts that she could gag just thinking about them. But she didn’t feel tired; she also did not feel very energetic, but she knew she had to get pumped by shortly after eight.

  Jaylynn grasped Dez’s forearm. “Wow, you sure are dark. When you said you’d be using a tanning dye, I had no idea it would look like this!”

  “Yeah, but if you don’t apply it, the bright lights bleach you out and the judges can’t see any muscle.”

  Dez looked so embarrassed that Jaylynn changed the subject. “Any competition to watch out for?”

  Dez stretched her legs out and let her hands fall into her lap. “Yeah. Looks like at least two heavyweights. They both look pretty good from what I can tell.”

  Jaylynn patted the gray-clad forearm. “I’ve got a good feeling about this. You’re going to do well.”

  “Thanks for coming so early. I hope Cowboy gets here soon.”

  She dragged her gym bag closer and hunted around in it, coming up with a pint of bottled water. “Want a swig?” she asked as she twisted the cap open.

  “Nope. I brought my own.” She gestured to her leather bag, which contained plenty of goodies to make it through the day. “So tell me, what happens now?”

  Dez closed up the bottle and stuck it back in her bag. “We weigh in at eight and afterwards get pumped up for the eight-thirty start. We do compulsory poses at first, and then our one-minute programs. They start with women teens, then the young guys. I’m pretty sure they do the Masters competitors, then the rest of us novices, women first, followed by men. Somewhere along the way, the pairs get squeezed in. I haven’t actually seen the schedule yet, but I know from the other show I did that they’ll give us a timeline to follow.”

  “Where’s the best place to sit?”

  “Anywhere you like. The closer you are, the better though. You can see symmetry from a distance, but muscles and vascularity are best seen up close.”

  “You don’t care if I sit in the front row?”

  Dez chuckled and shrugged. “Whatever.”

  “How long does this take?”

  Dez thought about that for a moment. “Mmm, two, maybe three hours. I like to stay and see the men. When I’m done, I’ll come out and sit with you to watch—that is, if you’re staying that long?”

  “Sure I am.” Jaylynn grinned. “I’d like that. Maybe you can give me enough information so I understand all of this.”

  Dez nodded. “You also better buy tonight’s tickets now or else you’ll get crummy seats.”

  “I told Luella I’d get a pair for her and Vanita. She tried to tell me her tired old eyes needed to be up close. Hey, why didn’t Luella come this morning?”

  “I talked her out of it. It’s just the compulsories, and they go on and on. I thought it would be a lot more fun for her to see the show tonight. You didn’t have to come this early either, you know.”

  “But I wanted to,” Jaylynn said, a twinkle in her eye. “So I should get tickets this morning before the show?”

  “Yes, go get them now.” Dez looked at her watch. “They’ll open up any minute. Go be first in line. They’ve already sold a lot in advance.” When she reached for her bag, Dez said, “You can leave that here. I’ll keep an eye on it.”

  Jaylynn rose and hastened to the table where two men were setting up to sell tickets. Dez watched her walk away, smiling approvingly at the cream-colored Dockers, white tennis shoes, and a form-fitting forest green V-neck shirt. Her hips were shapely and her hair shone under the fluorescent lights.

  Dez felt a blush creep into her face as she remembered some of the images of a dream from the night before. In it, they were in a sunny glade near a lake. Jaylynn was wearing considerably less than now—a maroon bathing suit top and the shortest of jean shorts. Her legs were lean and sinewy, her stomach muscular and tight. Dez frowned and shook her head. She didn’t know why she was dreaming about Jaylynn all the time now. And the part that caused her to blush most was when Jaylynn slipped out of those clothes and stood nude before her. Dez recalled looking down and comprehending that she herself wore no clothes either. In her dream, she didn’t feel the slightest bit shy. They waded into the water, and the dream went on, but she couldn’t remember any more details, only that she awakened from it unwillingly, her stomach protesting for food.

  She looked at her watch again. 7:55. Time to weigh in. Jaylynn was walking back toward her, tucking tickets into her back pockets. Dez rose and picked up both of their bags.

  “Time to go?” Jaylynn asked.

  “Yup. I’ll look for you in the audience.”

  She stood awkwardly until Dez handed her the leather bag. “Good luck,” Jaylynn said. “I’ll be rooting for you.” The comment seemed so lame, but was all she could think to say.

  Dez flashed her a smile, and her white teeth were such a contrast to the dark skin that Jaylynn was taken aback. The face of her Hero. The recognition was uncanny and gave her the shivers. She watched the gray-clad woman walk away from her, and she was struck by how thin she appeared. In fact, those sweats bagged on Dez so much Jaylynn thought they’d look more shapely on a hanger. She heard a clock-clock-clock noise, and in came Cowboy wearing his ever-present leather boots and hauling a bag even bigger than Dez’s. He was nearly running as he caught up with Dez who stood next to her bag, hands on hips, shaking her head at him.

  Jaylynn made her way into the auditorium where the audio techs were making final checks on the sound system. The high school’s theater hall was large and seated around two thousand. Right now there were seven judges sitting at a long table right in front of the stage and knots of early birds scattered throughout the first fifteen rows. She picked her way down the stairs toward the front row, passing a huge man eating from a gallon-sized Tupperware container full of rice and chicken. Picking a spot to the right in the fourth row where she thought she had the best angle of vision, she sat and proceeded to think about Dez.

  Dez didn’t seem nervous at all. Then again, she’d done this before. If she were Dez, Jaylynn was certain she’d be throwing up right about now. She looked around the auditorium. On the stage three banners advertised other sponsors, including the Sports Nutrition Warehouse, a chiropractor, and three fitness clubs. On one side wall, two men were hanging a thirty-foot-long banner with red, white, and blue lettering that read: “All Natural Bodybuilding Championship sponsored in part by the Saint Paul Police Department.” The wall on the other side already contained another gold banner that carried the seal of the police department and the words, “To Serve and Protect: In Memory of Ryan Michaelson.”

  Jaylynn felt the hair on her arms stand on end, and once again she wished she’d met the man whom all of her colleagues respected so much. In photos around the department, he was as blond as she was. He was stocky, broad-shouldered, and wearing a mischievous
grin in every picture. She thought she probably would have liked him a lot.

  A string of people—many of them cops whom Jaylynn vaguely recognized—wandered in and found seats. After a while, the chief judge up front spoke into a microphone before him. “Let’s get started, ladies and gentlemen.” Without any fanfare or introductions, he went on, “Let’s have the teen women—oh, wait a minute. We’ve got no teen female competitors. All right. Bring out the teen males.”

  Jaylynn watched as the judges took the six boys through a series of mandatory poses. She was impressed at the muscle and sinew the young men displayed, not to mention their poise. They were all clearly nervous, but each held steady throughout the ten minutes of poses. After the compulsories were completed, each of the boys was called individually to the stage to perform his sixty-second program, a succession of poses chosen by the competitor to highlight his best features. The first teen emerged and stood waiting motionless at center stage. Jaylynn was startled to hear acid rock music blaring out of the speakers. She covered her ears and winced for the full sixty seconds. The accompanying music for all six boys was variations of painful, screaming guitar, booming bass beat, indistinguishable words. Jaylynn had to grin. I guess I’m old now, she thought as she protected her ears. She didn’t know how the judges could stand it.

  By the time the Masters women and men finished their compulsories and individual programs, Jaylynn was starting to understand what bodybuilding was all about. She listened to the comments from the crowd, some of whom obviously knew what they were talking about, and she studied the physiques. What she found most appealing were men and women with well-defined muscle, and a lean, symmetrical presentation of it. She considered how thin Dez had become and wondered if that would be detrimental.

  In the Novice/Open class, the judges started with the lightweight women and moved on to the middleweights. As each moment passed, Jaylynn became increasingly nervous until her stomach was a roiling mess. She purposely closed her eyes and made herself breathe twenty deep breaths. She re-situated herself in the lumpy auditorium chair and watched the final middleweight finish her routine.

  The judges called the heavyweights out. The three women filed out on the stage, their muscles pumped up. Jaylynn’s eyes found Dez immediately, and her jaw dropped. In an electric blue bikini, Dez’s skin was super-shiny with a deep, dark tan, though Jaylynn saw the lights made her look less brown than she’d appeared in the hall. What stunned her the most was how impossibly huge and well-sculpted Dez looked. The other two women were shapely and muscular, but they were four and six inches shorter respectively. Dez, standing in the middle, towered over them, a veritable mountain of muscle and sinew. The three women stood “at rest,” which meant they were not striking any poses, but every muscle in their bodies was tight and flexed.

  The judges took them through the compulsory quarter turns. She saw Dez’s broad shoulders with the defined delts, the abdominal six-pack, and legs bulging with muscle. Somewhere off in the distance Jaylynn heard cheering, but everything seemed muddied and unintelligible. She only had eyes for Dez. The three contestants faced away from the audience to do back lat spreads, and Jaylynn wondered if she could believe her own eyes. The back Dez presented was sinewy and so rippled that she looked hard as rock.

  Before Jaylynn knew it, the compulsories were over and she became aware that she hadn’t paid the slightest attention to the other two women. She had no idea what their strengths or weaknesses were. She hoped Dez wouldn’t ask for any comparisons because she wouldn’t be able to give them.

  The judges called for the first individual program, and Jaylynn was relieved that Dez was first. The sooner she performed her sixty-second routine, the sooner Jaylynn could relax. Dez strode out to the middle of the stage and waited for the music to start. The first notes of “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves” came over the speakers bringing a smile to Jaylynn’s lips. Holding her breath, Jaylynn was struck by how much her dream Hero looked like Dez. Still, she had to admit she never envisioned her protector in anything other than tight leather. But if she had imagined her in next-to-no clothes, she couldn’t think of any figure better than Dez’s to visualize.

  Near the end of the incredibly quick minute, Jaylynn felt faint. With a chuckle, she reminded herself to remember to breathe. She watched, spellbound, as Dez went through her series of poses. Not until the music ended and Dez exited the stage was Jaylynn able to settle back in her seat and take in great gulps of air. Now Jaylynn managed to look around and take in the rabid enthusiasm of the spectators.

  The final two heavyweights performed, but their moves were all a blur to Jaylynn. She couldn’t get over how Dez appeared. It wasn’t until the judges called the pairs out to perform that she was able to focus again. She watched three different routines before Cowboy and Dez came on the stage. Next to him, Dez looked diminutive. Both had huge shoulders and biceps, but his musculature was so much larger and even more defined than Dez’s. They did their routine to “Simply Irresistible” and with a wave, left the stage.

  The judges called for a ten-minute break, and Jaylynn was overheated and sweating. Her face was too hot, and the auditorium seemed to close in on her. Jaylynn felt around in her bag and found a bottle of water. In addition to drinking it, she considered pouring some of it down her shirt, maybe over her head. With a start, she discovered she was dizzy from hunger, so she rooted through her bag again until she found a Snickers bar. She’d just opened it and taken a bite when someone slid over the back of the chair beside her and settled in next to her. She looked over and was amazed to see Dez, dressed again in her gray sweats.

  “So, how’d we do?” Dez asked.

  “Good,” Jaylynn said, her mouth full.

  Dez shook her head and laughed. “I should have known you’d be out here steadily munching away on something.”

  Jaylynn chewed furiously and swallowed. “I just got this out this very moment,” she said indignantly.

  Before Dez could reply, Jaylynn saw someone standing in the aisle to her left. She craned her head back to see a thin, fortyish, red-haired woman with striking blue eyes. She wore tailored jeans and a black blouse with a starched collar. Boots with stiletto heels—and Jaylynn’s seated position—made her look quite tall and thin.

  “So, Dez,” the woman purred, “you looked pretty good up there.” Her eyes raked over the seated woman. “You’ve certainly changed since I last saw your—ah, physique.”

  Jaylynn looked to her right. Dez’s face was grim, but she didn’t seem upset.

  Dez said, “Why, hello, Karin. Surprised to see you here. You run outta sweet young things at the BCA?”

  Karin looked Jaylynn up and down appreciatively. “No, but the sweet young things around here aren’t too bad.”

  Comprehension dawned on Jaylynn and she understood who this redhead was. In a fury, she shot up out of her seat so fast that the bag on her lap spilled onto the auditorium floor. Without warning, the other woman found herself faced with a 130-pound spitfire.

  “Who the hell do you think you are discussing me like a piece of meat?” Karin stepped back, obviously surprised. “Get lost,” Jaylynn said fiercely. “I’ll kick your ass if I see you here again.”

  Karin looked down at Dez who was still slumped in her seat. “You let your little friend do all the protecting around here, huh?”

  “She’s a better cop than you ever were.”

  Again, Karin looked surprised. She shook her head as though she didn’t quite believe what she’d heard, and turned on her heel to flee up the aisle.

  Jaylynn picked up her bag from the floor and sank down into her seat feeling foolish and embarrassed. She sneaked a glance at Dez expecting the worst. Instead Dez sat with a goofy grin on her face. She turned to Jaylynn. “Now that was rich. Did you see the look on her face?” She started laughing, stopping abruptly when she caught the look on Jaylynn’s face. Dez asked, “What? What’s the matter?”

  “How could that—that woman be so rude? I’m
still furious!”

  “Jay, Jay. It’s just the chocolate.”

  Jaylynn gave her a blank look. “What?”

  “The Snickers. What have I been telling you? Too much sugar is bad for you.” Dez couldn’t hold back anymore and laughed uproariously. “It was great when you told her you’d kick her ass. Ha ha ha.”

  “I’m glad you find this so amusing.”

  “I needed a good laugh.” Dez started laughing again, but tried to stifle it. “Be quiet now. It’s the guys. We gotta root for Cowboy.”

  For the next hour they sat in the fourth row, heads together, while Dez told Jaylynn everything she could about proper form, posing, muscularity, and all the myriad details that made up the sport of bodybuilding. When Cowboy came out on stage, Jaylynn was surprised at all the hooting and catcalling from Dez, but it only made Cowboy preen and look all the more confident.

  Once the heavyweight men finished and the morning judging concluded, Jaylynn turned to Dez. “Now what?”

  Dez, munching on a rice cake, shrugged her shoulders. “I come back in six hours. Until then, I meander around avoiding anything remotely related to those Snickers bars you’ve been snacking on.”

  Jaylynn felt herself blushing. “One Snickers bar. It was one. Didn’t you pay attention to the sandwich or the banana or the orange or the pretzels?”

  Dez interrupted her. “Yes! I paid attention to all that, and believe me, the endless parade’s been killing me.” Irritably she said, “I can’t wait until I can eat something other than rice cakes and chicken, chicken, chicken.” She stood and stretched.

  Jaylynn rose, too, and put her hand on Dez’s arm. “Hey, I didn’t know it would bother you—me eating, I mean.”

  Dez scowled at her. “It didn’t bother me. You could have been eating dried squid and I would’ve wanted it. I’ll be so glad when this is over.” She crumpled up the wrapper from the rice cakes and flung it on the floor.