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第5章 电话里的朋友（第3页）

"Hello？Why？"

"Well，ifnobodyevercallsyou，IthoughtmaybeIshould。"

"Okay。Hello。Whoisthis？"

Atlast，Ihadgh。Nowhewascurious。ItoldhimwhoIwasandasked>

"MynameisAdolfMeth。I'm88yearsold，ahadthismanywrongnumbersinonedayi;>

&alkedfor10minutes。Adolfhadnofamily，nofriends。Everyonehehadbeeohaddied。Thenwediscoveredwehadsomethinginon：he'dworkedfortheNewYorkCityPoliceDepartmentfornearly40years。Tellihisdaysthereasaoroperator，heseemediing，evenfriendly。IaskedifIcouldcallhimagain。

"Whywouldyouwannadothat？"heasked，surprised。

"Well，maybewecouldbephonefriends。Youknow，likepenpals。"

&ed。"Iwouldn'tmind…havingafriendagain。"Hisvoidedalittletentative。

IcalledAdolfthefollowingafternoonandseveraldayslater。Easytotalkwith，herelatedhismemoriesofWorldWarIandII，theHindenburgdisasteraorits。Hewasfasg。Igavehimmyhomeandoffiumberssohecouldcallus。Hedidalmosteveryday。

IwasnotjustbeingkindtoaloalkingtoAdolfortanttome，becauseI，too，hadabiggapinmylife。Raisedinesandfosterhomes，Ineverhadafather。Gradually，Adolftookonakindoffatherlyimportaalkedaboutmyjobandcollegecourses，whidedatnight。

Adolfwarmedtotheroleofselor。WhiledisgadisagreementI'dhadervisor，Itoldmy;IthinkI'vehaditwithhim。"

"What'stherush？"Adolfed。"Letthings。WheasoldasIam，youfindoutthattimetakescareofalot。Ifthiworse，thenyoutalktohim。"

Therewasalo;Youknow，"hesaidsoftly，"IamtalkingtoyoujustthewayI'dtalktoaboyofmyoantedafamily—and。You'retooyoungtoknowhowthatfeels。"

No，Iwasn't。I'dalwayswantedafamily—aIdidn'tsayanything，afraidIwouldn'tbeabletoholdbackthehurtI'dfeltf。

Oneevening，Adolfmehbirthdaywasingup。Afterbuyingapieceoffiberboard，Idesignedabiggreetingcardwithad89it。IaskedalltheyOffiissinit。Igatherednearlyahuures。Adolfwouldgetakickoutofthis，Iknew。

We'dbeentalkingonthephoneforfourmonthsnow，andIthoughtthiswouldbeagoodtimetomeetfacetoface。SoIdecidedtodeliverthecardbyhand。

Ididn'ttellAdolfIwasing。Ijustdrovetohisaddressahecarupthestreetfromhisapartmemanwassmailinthehallwaywhehebuilding。HenoddedasIcheckedthemailboxesforAdolf'sartment1H，some20feetfromwhereIstood。

&pouhext。Wouldwehavethesamechemistryiwehadonthephohefirststabofdoubt。Maybehewouldrejectmethewaymyfatherrejectedmewheofmylife。ItappedonAdolf'sdoor。Whentherewasnoanswer，Iknockedharder。

&manlookedupfr。"here，"hesaid。

"Yeah，"Isaid，feelingalittlefoolish。"Ifheansweredhisdoorthewayheanswershisphohismaytakeallday。"

"Areyouarelativeorsomething？"

"No，justafriend。"

"I'mreallysorry，"hesaidquietly，"butMr。Methdiedthedaybeforeyesterday。"

Died？Adolf？Foramoment，I'taoodthereinshoddisbelief。Then，pulliher，Ithamaothelate-msuowardthecar，misty-eyed。

Then，roundingtheer，IsawadaliheOldTestameomymind：Afriealltimes。Andespedeath，Irealized。Thisbroughtamnitioakessomesuddenandsadturoawakenustothebeautyofaspecialpresenourlives。Now，forthefirsttime，IsensedhowverycloseAdolfandIhadbee。Ithasbeeneasy，ahiswouldmakeitevehehmyclosefriend。Slowly，Ifeltawarmthsurgingthroughme。IheardAdolf'sgrowlyvoig，&qu;ThenIheardhimaskingwhyIwao。

"Beattered，Adolf，"Isaidaloudto;BecauseIwasyourfriend。"

Iplaopehdaythebaydgotbehindthewheel。Beftheengine，Ilookedovermyshoulder。"Adolf，"Iwhispered，"Ididn'tgetthewroall。Igotyou。"