第20章电话里的朋友AFriendontheLine
金尼斯·迈克尔·比奇JenningsMichaelBirch
&afriehoutawitness。
——Spanishproverb
BeforeIevenfinisheddialing，Isomehoos;dmadeamistake。Thephohensomeoup。
“Yougnumber!”ahuskymalevoiappedbeforetheliified，Idialedagain。
“Isaidyougnumber!”camethevoiorethephonemyear。
HowcouldhepossiblyknowIhadawrohattime，IworkedfortheNewYorkCityPoliceDepartment。Acopistraiobeded。SoIdialedathirdtime。
“Hey，on，”themansaid。“Isthisyouagain?”
&'sme，”Ianswered。“IwaswhowyoukhewrongnumberbeforeIevensaidanything?”
“Youfigureitout!”Thephonedslammeddown。
Isatthereawhile，thereginglooselyinmyfingers。Icalledthemanback。
“Didyoufigureitoutyet?”heasked。
&hingIkofis。。。nobodyevercallsyou。”
“Yougotit!”Thephohefourthtime。g，Idialedthemanback。
“Whatdoyouwantno>
“IthoughtI'dcall。。。justtosayhello。”
“Hello?Why?”
“Well，ifnobodyevercallsyou，IthoughtmaybeIshould。”
“Okay。Hello。Whoisthis?”
Atlast。Ihadgh。Nowhewascurious。ItoldhimwhoIwasandasked>
“MynameisAdolfMeth。I'm88yearsold，andIhaven'thadthismanywrongnumbersinonedayin20years!”>
&alkedfor10minutes。Adolfhadnofamily，nofriends。Everyonehehadbeeohaddied。Thenwediscoveredwehadsomethinginp;apos;dworkedfortheNewYorkCityPoliceDepartmentfornearly40years。Tellihisdaysthereasaoroperator，heseemediing，evenfriendly。IaskedifIcouldcallhimagain。
“Whywouldyouwannadothat?”heasked，surprised。
“Well，maybewecouldbephonefriends。Youknow，likepenpals。”
&ed。“Ios;tmind。。。havingafriendagain。”Hisvoidedalittletentative。
IcalledAdolfthefollowingafternoonandseveraldayslater。Easytotalkwith，herelatedhismemoriesofWorldWarIandII，theHindenburgdisasteraorits。Hewasfasg。Igavehimmyhomeandoffiumberssohecouldcallus。Hedid-almosteveryday。
IwasnotjustbeingkindtoaloalkingtoAdolfortanttome，becauseI，too，hadabiggapinmylife。Raisedinesandfosterhomes，Ineverhadafather。Gradually，Adolftookonakindoffatherlyimportaalkedaboutmyjobandcollegecourses，whidedatnight。
Adolfwarmedtotheroleofselor。WhiledisgadisagreementI'dhadervisor，ItoldmyhinkI'vehaditwithhim。”
“os;stherush?”Adolfed。“Letthings。WheasoldasIam，youfindoutthattimetakescareofalot。Ifthiworse，thenyoutalktohim。”
Therewasalongsilence。“Youknow，”hesaidsoftly，“Iamtalkingtoyoujusttheos;dtalktoaboyofmyoantedafamily-and。You'retooyoungtoknowhowthatfeels。”
No，Ios;t。I'dalwayswantedafamily-aIdidn'tsayanything，afraidIos;tbeabletoholdbackthehurtI'dfeltf。
Oneevening，Adolfmehbirthdaywasingup。Afterbuyingapieceoffiberboard，Idesigneda“2×5”greetingcardwithad89it。IaskedalltheyOffiissinit。Igatherednearlyahuures。Adolfwouldgetakickoutofthis，Iknew。
os;dbeentalkingonthephoneforfourmonthsnow，andIthoughtthiswouldbeagoodtimetomeetfacetoface。SoIdecidedtodeliverthecardbyhand。
Ididn'ttellAdolfIwasing;Ijustdrovetohisaddressahecarupthestreetfromhisapartmemanwassmailinthehallwaywhehebuilding。HenoddedasIcheckedthemailboxesforAdolf'sartment1H，some20feetfromwhereIstood。