120
Saturday, August 28th, 1982, 2:11 P.M.
Belinda had seen this before. In the past, not so long ago, one of her many modes of modern, motorized mechanisms was to participate in the glorious and convenient offering of public transportation. As a younger girl, cavorting around the city and suburbs of Los Angeles, Belinda was able to experience the many winsome and elegant characteristics of bus riding lunatics. Being an artistic person by nature, she basically broke them down into three categories:
1.) The extremely pissed-off guy who is yelling at an imaginary person.
2.) The pseudo-intellectual who lectures you about the evils and conspiracies of the government.
3.) The lonely introvert who mumbles and talks to himself.
Belinda carefully recorded these observations in her journal, and used them as motivation to become rich and successful in order to escape this wild and adventurous lifestyle.
As we all know, it worked out splendidly.
She also became very adept at spotting potential danger from a distance, prudently keeping a watchful eye out for menacing looking characters, and knowing when to leave a particular bus stop or cross the street when deemed necessary.
This was one of those moments.
She certainly didn’t feel physically threatened by this skinny twerp. Being an ex-jock and currently being the combative crooner of a bellicose band of rockers, (yeah, right) Belinda felt she could easily kick the crap out of Mr. Pointy Hat. But, like previously mentioned, she realized that it was best to avoid a messy confrontation whenever possible. Especially considering her upcoming bout with fame. Part of her wanted to put down the Tiki doll and just walk away, calling him a justifiable creep as she left.
But not Belinda.
No-siree-Bob. She was a woman and this was a challenge. This guy just threw down the gauntlet.
“Excuse me… What did you say?” she asked the man.
Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the man changed his disposition and addressed Belinda in an entirely different fashion.
“How are you today?” he smiled.
Belinda could instantly see that his current dental situation could use some drastic attention.
“I’m fine,” she answered, slowly and cautiously, giving him a suspicious look for his changed attitude.
“What can I do for you? You like the doll?” he asked, with a distinctive accent.
“Uh, yeah,” Belinda stammered. “How much does it cost?”
“That one is seven dollars,” he answered. “We have others that are cheaper.”
“No, no, I like this one,” she said. “I’ll take it.” Belinda reached into her purse to retrieve the money to pay for the doll. At this point, she had forgiven the vendor for his previously rude behavior.
This was about to change again.
The man inched closer to Belinda and spoke softly, almost as if he were trying to keep his words from the prying ears of Steve, who was carefully watching the entire transaction over her shoulder.
“Are you troubled?” the vendor asked Belinda. He had changed his demeanor again, addressing her in a manner that seemed to be a combination of both concern and malicious curiosity.
Belinda was now officially creeped-out.
“What?!” she returned, in an alarmed fashion.
“Are you sad?” he asked. There was no more cheerfulness in his tone.
Belinda turned and looked over her shoulder at Steve. He sensed that his girlfriend was in distress and took control of the situation.
“Hey, pal, what’s your problem?” he asked the vendor.
The man looked at Steve and said nothing. He continued with his silent stance for the next several seconds, then turned his attention to the more important task of completing the act of commerce.
“Seven dollars, please,” he requested.
Belinda took the money out of her wallet, counted it, and handed it to the vendor. She had a look of uneasiness on her face during the entire final phase of the transaction, then turned to Steve as if to say, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Our fabulous couple turned to walk away, but didn’t get very far before a terrifying noise broke the thick air of silence that was already dangling from the uncomfortable situation. It was a high-pitched, almost screeching type of sound that came directly from the vendor’s throat.
Belinda and Steve whirled around and watched in unbridled horror as the demonic ogre walked towards them. He began shrieking, apparently speaking in a foreign language, possibly his own, that no one in the general vicinity was likely to understand. Onlookers were now watching as Belinda and Steve, who had abandoned his usual, macho charisma, were paralyzed in fear, unable to move, as the monster inched closer to them.
Although initially frozen solid, Belinda and Steve’s survival instincts kicked into high gear, as the two of them turned around and bolted away from the approaching menace before he got within striking distance. They turned and ran down a different path and didn’t stop until it was time to catch their breath.
“Wait.. Stop.. I can’t run anymore,” panted Belinda, as she put her hands on her knees and started sucking some serious wind.
Steve ostensibly did the same thing until it was time to put his hand on Belinda’s shoulder and ask—
“What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know,” answered Belinda, still trying to resume normal breathing conditions. “What was he doing? What was he saying?”
“I don’t know… that was so freaky… What was that screeching noise?” asked Steve.
Belinda could only shake her head in disbelief.
“It was like he had some sort of… vendetta against us… But we didn’t do anything.. I didn’t do anything.. What could he have been so mad at?” Belinda wondered.
“I don’t know… I hardly said anything to him,” remarked Steve. “Just that one time when I was sticking up for you.”
Steve and Belinda continued on with the same conversation for the next twenty minutes until it was time to realize that they had had an inexplicably strange, bizarre, and exhausting day, and it was time to pack things up and go home.
The ride home was filled with expected silence.
When they arrived at Belinda’s apartment, Steve stayed with her for an hour or so before deciding there was nothing more he could do or say to make the situation feel any more normal or serene. Since Belinda didn’t seem to want any physical contact or have him spend the night, he decided it was best to simply kiss her goodnight and take off for home. In his mind, he had done everything he could to make his girlfriend feel safe and content.
After Steve left, Belinda’s immediate instincts were to call Suffy and tell her all about the day’s events, since this was Suffy’s area of expertise.
But, Belinda didn’t make the call. She had the receiver in her hand and was just about to punch in the numbers, when she decided to forgo the phone call and hang up. Broom Hilda was going to have to wait; Belinda was too wired and jacked-up to talk with anyone. She chose to gulp down some instant coffee and smoke a dozen cigarettes instead. She also made up her mind to wait until Monday to tell the girls about it as well.
After spending the rest of the evening wearing down the carpet by pacing back and forth and flicking her finger and thumbnails like she habitually did, Belinda concluded that it was time to close up shop and try to get some sleep. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
Leaving one light on for security purposes, Belinda turned off the remaining lights in the living room and grabbed her purse from one of the chairs. She began her trek towards her bedroom, when suddenly, she became stopped-dead in her tracks. During this entire night, she had forgotten all about the purchase she made at the so-called “Amusement Park.”
But, when she reached down to feel the outside of her purse, she noticed there was no bulge sticking out.
Something was missing.
With a deep breath and severe trepidation, Belinda slowly unzipped the top of her purse and looked inside.
The Tiki-Doll was gone.
Stay tuned for next
week’s episode of —
THE OUTER LIMITS !!