morning they lay naked in sunlight, looking at each other or examining each other's bodies like apes cracking fleas. And in the morning Bill's voice would ring out from the shower:

"Ohhhhh, Sal went around behind the barn, 'n I went around to meet her. She pulled up her petticoat, 'n I pulled out... for Tulsa. Ohhhh, take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marry, take me back to Tulsa, I'm too young to marr-ieeee."

But now it was over. In the past months Bill had become restless, striding about the apartment, complaining that they were getting on each other's nerves. They were too used to each other, he said. He had to get out. Now, this morning, he had gotten out. The walls of the apartment screamed with silence.

Doug finished cleaning the apartment, dressed, and walked to work, determined not to think of him. The department store smelled of floor polish and new clothing. All morning long, Doug daydreamed, to keep his mind away from Bill and to alleviate the boredom of his job. At eleven o'clock he was the big wheel in a slave camp where everyone was gay. He was picking the man who would sleep with him tonight. All the slaves were standing at attention, and he walked among their naked ranks, kissing a cheek here and there for the feel of it, and pinching an occasional haunch. He examined sexual organs with 2. judge's detachment.

"Do you have a Maidenform bra in a 34-C?" a puffy woman asked, blushing so deeply that her hair roots stood out.

"These are nice," Doug answered, cupping his hand over an empty brassiere, trying to make her faint and cause a scene.

At two in the afternoon, he was the sole possessor of a magician's chant. A Secret Love Word that made men fall in love with him at once. All he had to do was look at the men and say "Shazam!" and they followed him home in a row, like little ducks. But, for the sake of variety, they were only in love with him for three hours. After that, they went on about their business.

The floor manager tapped Doug on the shoulder. He turned and looked the man straight in the eye and said "Shazam!"

"What?"

"Oh nothing. I was just thinking about something."

"Well, you'd better shazam on down to the storeroom and get a load of girdles. We're running low."

At five in the afternoon Doug left his little post in the lingerie department. He waved and blew a kiss to Millie the Mannequin who stood limbless on a counter, wearing only a bra and panties and looking very vulnerable, but smiling nonetheless.

On his way home he stopped at a delicatessen and bought a fried chicken wing, just for the hell of it. He walked down the street, greasily munching the wing and saying "Shazam!" to every passing male.

Then eventually he was in the apartment and it was empty and there were no daydreams and life was very real once more. The rooms weren't supposed to be empty. Bill was supposed to be there, freshly showered after his work at the bank. Bill should be stretched on the sofa, reading Byron and drinking a Coke.

But Bill was not there. The rooms were filled with emptiness. Everything was silent. That night Doug went out to a bar, somehow knowing that the old life would start again. A man a night, each professing love and giving fake phone numbers. It had to start again. He needed Bill. He needed love. He needed