“Just breath.” It was the first time that I had heard Lennie’s voice on the phone. It was a strong, masculine voice, but soft and comforting. After 6 and a half days of dozens of e-mails I had finally gotten up the nerve to phone him. He could hear the nervousness in my voice as I said, “Hello.” “You sound scared to death.”, he said. “Just breath. We’ll do it together… 3 times… take a deep breath and let it out. Again.” Three times we breathed together and I felt more calm. I had blocked my number before I called so that he wouldn’t be able to find my address the way that I had found him. “Before we say anything”, I started, “I have to tell you something. My name is Kathryn, not Rebeca as I told you in the e-mails.” “I like the name Kathryn.”, he said. It was okay with him that I had started off our relationship with a little lie. I had made up an e-mail address and called myself Rebeca – Rebeca Mead after the fictitious character in the movie ‘Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate’, the 1970s thriller about 4 little old ladies with too much time on their hands who invent a fictitious woman and submit her name to a computer dating site so that they can read the suitors’ letters, only to attract the attention of a serial killer who was plaguing the city. Lennie saw the irony and humor in my choice of names. And so began what he had wanted: a conversation that never ends. We talked that first evening – his time zone being 5 hours behind mine – for 2 1/2 hours, which was well into the night in Hamilton. I fell asleep that night knowing that I was starting to fall in love.
From that night on we talked on the phone anywhere from 12 to 17 times a day. At one point Lennie asked me, “Do you mind me phoning you so much?” “No, I love talking to you.”, I reassured him. It was the truth. We talked constantly. We talked about mundane things and everyday things. He would wake me up in the middle of the night when he was going to bed in Hawai’i at about 9 p.m. and we would just lie there together in the darkness, each on our side with the phone lying on our ear. Sometimes we would say goodnight and at other times we would listen to each other breathing, having that trans continental connection of phone lines and satellites and just drift off to sleep. 20 years ago we would have been running up thousands of dollars in charges, but with the packages we both had we could stay connected almost indefinitely.
We phoned each other while we were doing the dishes or driving somewhere or while we were cooking and eating. As Lennie had told me, we were actually getting to know each other far more than if we were together on a date since a lot of time would be spent just sitting, gazing into each others eyes. Not being able to be in each other’s company we were forced to keep talking. We got to know each other very well and the more we knew each other, the more we liked each other.
He had given me his cell phone number in one of his very first e-mails. It’s amazing how much information you can get about someone over the Internet with just a phone number. Through my super-sleuthing I now knew his address and his last name. I started googling photos of ‘Lennie Schneider’ and was shocked as I saw photos of someone who looked very much like him, but a lot younger; a man in a newspaper clipping who was being taken away in hand-cuffs by the police. Oh no! What had he not told me? Yet in these photos, the time line seemed a bit off; off by about 25 years if his age was correct. From more snooping I found many newspaper clippings of Lennie Schneider – or Lenny Schneider as the photos listed. I would soon discover that this Lenny Schneider was the real name of Lenny Bruce, the comedian, social satirist and pot smoker. In his younger days he looked amazingly like my Lennie.
“I know I use to look like Lenny Bruce. Now do you believe me when I tell you that I have nothing to hide; or do you want to keep snooping some more?” “Okay”, I said, “I believe you. I just wanted to make sure. Do you know that I have a friend at the dog park who knows someone who works for this agency in L.A. They help people get back home when they have lost their passport or been robbed and have no money.” I had his attention as he said, “And…”. “Well,” I continued, “Did you know that 50 percent of their business is helping women who have met some guy on the Internet who they ended up giving all their money to and flying to meet only to be left stranded?” “Well, I’m not one of those guys. So why don’t you start thinking about how you are going to make things happen and get over here.” he said. “Okay”, I replied. “I will come over.” “You know”, Lennie said, “I could fly to Canada and meet you… it’s just that it would be so much more romantic if we met in Hawai’i.” “I know Lennie, I would like that too. So how about if we plan for 6 months from now?” “No”, he said. “I won’t wait that long for you. Cut it in half Kathryn.” “Alright, I will be there in 3 months.” I had committed. I was starting things in motion to meet Lennie.
Kathryn
www.kathrynsmith.com