128
Wednesday, September 22nd, 1988, 6:48 P.M.
Gina kept looking over her shoulder waiting for the supervisor to disappear around the corner so that she could run back into the room to retrieve her sport bag. She initially considered just leaving it in the room, but then she remembered that Belinda did not have anything to wear in order to make her escape. Gina’s ingenious plan of having Belinda dress up like a doctor had already been thwarted by the fact that Gina had grabbed the wrong bag out of the trunk of her car and left the actual disguise behind. Poor Belinda was now waiting for her in the laundry chute room wearing nothing but a hospital gown and her underwear. One can only imagine how surprised and elated a hospital employee from the housekeeping department would be if they walked into the chute room and discovered one of the most famous women in America standing there half-naked. Especially a male employee.
Their original plan of simply running down the stairwell and hiding out in the room was quickly halted by the sound of someone coming up the stairs and forcing them to retreat. However, the door to Belinda’s room was mysteriously jammed shut, causing Gina to chuck Belinda down the laundry chute.
It was a narrow escape.
Gina found that the door was still jammed shut, but she lifted up on the handle a little bit and the door suddenly popped open. She went in, grabbed her sport bag, and hustled out of the room. Gina was already wearing a housekeepers uniform, so she wasn’t too concerned about looking conspicuous from this moment on. She left the room and bolted down the stairwell. When she got to the basement, she found the appropriate room and entered it. There was Belinda, standing there looking like a lost puppy, cold and shivering.
“Oh, thank God you’re here,” said Belinda. “I heard a voice.. I thought you got busted.”
“Yeah, some fuckin’ nurse-lady asked me a bunch of questions about what I was doing… She heard you scream,” said Gina.
“What happened?” asked Belinda.
“Nothing.. I gave her the brush-off and she went away… Here, put this shit on,” instructed Gina, as she handed Belinda the sport bag.
Belinda zipped open the bag and started pulling out the clothes. She then realized something that she had observed before.
“Gina, I’m not gonna fit in your clothes,” she said.
“We don’t have any choice… And we don’t have a lot of time… Just cram into them the best way you can,” ordered Gina.
Belinda was just about ready to peel off her gown, when she stopped and said to Gina—
“Turn around.”
“What?” asked Gina.
“I said, turn around,” repeated Belinda.
“Oh, what the fuck… You think I’m interested in seeing your body?” asked Gina.
“Yes,” said Belinda, bluntly.
Gina instantly realized that Belinda had made a valid point.
“Alright, I’ll turn around.
Gina’s sense of humor, of course, could not be stopped. As soon as she sensed that Belinda was standing there in her underwear, she looked back around and started to peek. Belinda characteristically gave her a dirty look.
“Gina.”
“Alright, alright, I’m not looking,” confessed Gina, as she turned her look away.
Belinda eventually forced Gina’s petite-sized gym clothes onto her sturdy frame and spoke up.
“This is insane.”
Gina turned around and burst into laughter.
There was Belinda, standing there looking like Mama Smurf, practically turning blue because the tight clothes had cut off her oxygen supply.
The shorts had given her severe camel-toe, the T-Shirt made it look like her boobs were about ready to explode, and the out-of-style, white socks with the stripes at the top, made her look like a refugee from Mr. Wisnoski’s gym class— circa 1974.
As hard as she tried, Gina could not stop laughing.
“I look like I’m ready for the Special Olympics,” stated Belinda.
“Well… maybe not the Special Olympics… But certainly “Battle of the Network Stars,” said Gina. “You’re ready to go up against Lynda Carter.”
“How can you wear such out-of-style clothes?” wondered Belinda. “Why don’t you go shopping?”
“I always think about it… And then I never do,” explained Gina in between laughs.
“Let’s just get the hell out of here,” demanded Belinda. “I can’t decide which is worse— Getting caught trying to escape.. Or getting caught wearing these clothes.”