Shakespeares Champion Page 0,3

on a more promising target. Claude was my good friend but he wanted to be my lover, too.

"Claude, let me go."

"Lily, when are you going to let me spend the night?" he asked quietly, no begging or whining in his voice because Claude is not a begging or whining man.

I turned sharply so my face was to the refrigerator. I could feel the muscles in my neck and shoulders tighten. I made myself hold still. Claude's hands dropped to his sides. I got out some leftover dishes and opened the microwave, moving slowly, trying not to show my agitation with jerky gestures.

When the microwave was humming, I turned to face Claude, looking up at his face. Claude is in his mid-forties, ten years or more older than I, and he has graying brown hair and a permanent tan. After years of working in dark corners of Little Rock and dark places in people's hearts, Claude has a few wrinkles, deep and decisive wrinkles, and a massive calm that must be his way of keeping sane.

"Do you want me?" he asked me now.

I hated being backed into a corner. And there wasn't a simple answer to the question.

He touched my hair with gentle fingers.

"Claude." I enjoyed saying his name, unlovely as it was. I wanted to lay my hands on each side of his face and return his kiss. I wanted him to walk out and never come back. I wanted him not to want me. I had liked having a friend.

"You know I'm just used to living my own life," was what I said.

"Is it Sedaka?"

Oh, hell. I hated this. Marshall and I had been dating and bedding for months. Under Claude's scrutiny, I grew even more tense. Without my conscious direction, my hand crept under the neck of my sweatshirt, rubbing the scars.

"Don't, Lily." Claude's voice was gentle, but very firm. "I know what happened to you, and it doesn't make me feel anything except admiration that you lived through it. If you care about Sedaka I'll never say another word. From my point of view, you and I've been happy in the times we've spent together, and I'd like an extension."

"And exclusive rights?" I met his eyes steadily. Claude would never share a woman.

"And exclusive rights," he admitted calmly. "Till we see how it goes."

"I'll think," I forced myself to say. "Now, let's eat. I have to go back to work."

Claude eyed me for a long moment, then nodded. He got the tea from the refrigerator and poured us each a glass, put sugar in his, and set the table. I put a bowl of fruit between our places, got out the whole-wheat bread and a cutting board for the reheated meat loaf. As we ate, we were quiet, and I liked that. As Claude was slicing an apple for himself and I was peeling a banana, he broke that comfortable silence.

"We sent Del Packard's body to Little Rock," he told me.

"What do you think?" I was relieved at the change of topic.

"It's hard to say what might have happened," Claude rumbled. He had the most comforting voice, like distant thunder.

"Well, he dropped the bar on himself - didn't he?" I hadn't been particularly friendly with Del, but it wasn't bearable to think of him struggling to get the bar back up to the rack, failing, all by himself.

"Why was he there alone, Lily? Sedaka was so sick I couldn't figure out what he was telling me."

"Del was training for the championships at Marvel Gym in Little Rock."

"The poster, right?"

I nodded. Taped to one of the many mirrors lining the walls at Body Time, there was a poster giving the specifics of the event, with a picture of last year's winners. "Del competed last year, in the men's middleweight division, novice class. He came in second."

"How big a deal is this?"

"To a novice bodybuilder, pretty big. Del had never been in a competition before he got second place at Marvel Gym. If he'd won this year - and Marshall thought he had a chance - Del could've gone on to another competition, and another, until he entered one of the nationals."

Claude shook his big head in amazement at the prospect. "Is 'posing' like the swimsuit part of Miss America?"

"Yes, but he'd be wearing a lot less. A monokini, like a glorified jockstrap. And he'd have removed his body hair .. ."

Claude looked a little disgusted. "I wondered about that. I noticed."

"He'd been working on his tan. And