Let's Not Meet Again

"Don't You Recognize My Voice?"

This story is a bit long by the nature of the events. Bare with me. I still get anxious over being watched because of it.

This happened to me when I was about 16 years old. At the time, my family of three – my mom, my brother and I – lived in your typical middle-class Canadian suburb: quiet, predominantly white, and moderately friendly. Basically I'm saying it was safe and there was never really any reason to worry about any sort of harm coming your way.

At that age I used to spend way too much time on the internet (read: I was addicted). Because of this, I regularly skipped leaving the house and was subsequently left home alone a lot. The vast majority of that time was spent on chat sites or socially oriented online multiplayer games.

On one such night, the phone rang and the caller ID read "private caller". This didn't bother me at all – my uncle, who called at least once a week from Newfoundland – had his number privatized. Naturally, I pick up the phone and say hello, expecting it to be him. Instead I get:

"Hello! How are you doing tonight?"

A man. He sounds older, at least 40. I didn't recognize the voice, but his tone was so casual that I assumed he must be a family friend calling for my mom. As I didn't get out of the house much, I didn't know any of my mother's friends, so it wasn't unusual for me to not recognize someone's voice over the phone. I kept up conversation cordially. You know, the usual "how are you, I'm good, how are you?" kind of thing.

That is, until he starts repeatedly asking about my day. "How was your day today?" This makes me think he must actually be a family friend. Who else asks for the details? All the same, I'm a little bit uncomfortable. I was awkward like any teenager and didn't want to socialize with my parents' friends.

I answer with, "Not much, really. Just sat around the house... By the way, I'm really sorry, but I'm not sure who this is..."

"Don't you recognize my voice?" The man sounded only mildly shocked in a very fake sort of way, but mostly like he was looking for a way to not answer the question. He laughed awkwardly as he attempted to skirt around it.

"No, I'm sorry..." He still didn't attempt to tell me his name, so I ask again. "So... who is this?"

"I can't believe you don't recognize my voice! Haha, wow. Tell me more about your day!"

Now I'm feeling really uncomfortable since he still won't tell me who he is. This might sound weird, but the content of what he was saying wasn't exactly uncommon where I live. People joke with you and tease you a lot. That being said, usually the joking ends if someone can tell you're being serious. I took what I thought was the easy out. Maybe he thought I was my mom. This happened a lot too.

"Well, this is sickles-and-crows. Are you looking for my mom? She's not home right now, but I can get her to call you back when she's home..."

"Oh, sickles! No, I'm not looking to talk to your mom. I wanted to talk to you about your day."

The way he said my name implied that he hadn't known it before I just told him. And he wanted to talk to me? I scramble to say that I have to go and hang up, knowing I just made a big mistake. I'm anxious to tell my mom the story when she gets in but she didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest and just chalked it up to a wrong number. I decide to leave it at that too.

Of course, that's not the end of the story. The next week I get another call, again while my mom is out, again not my uncle. I hang up immediately. A few more days pass and I get another call. At this point I'm scared to be home alone because this guy somehow knows when I'm by myself since I only ever got calls when my mom and brother weren't home. My addiction was still stronger, though, and I decided to test my theory by watching my mom leave through the window the next time she went out. Quite literally the moment her car leaves the driveway, the phone rings. This time I'm not fucking around (the best you can at a sheltered 16). He's still too inquisitive and friendly.

"Hi sickles. How are you tonight?"

"I'm fine. Who is this?"

"You still don't recognize my voice? How are you feeling tonight?"

"No. Who the fuck is this? Why do you keep calling me? Leave me the fuck alone!"

We repeat this little circle three or four times, me getting increasingly frustrated and scared, him always trying to interrupt me, until he finally says something that makes me stop in my tracks.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright tonight? Having any boy troubles?"

Now I'm seriously panicked and scared for myself. Just before my mom left the house I had been telling an online friend about a boy sending me mixed messages. The worst part is that he sounded genuinely concerned. I scream at this guy to stop calling me, hang up, and immediately dial my mother. She's annoyed that I'm making something out of nothing and begging her to come home when she's visiting with her friends. However, she agrees to come home, saying she'd be about 10 minutes. We hang up and I feel a little better. At least soon I'll be safe.

However, the moment I hang up, the phone is ringing in my palm. Private caller. This part had never happened before. He never called back after I hung up any of the other times. Again and again this guy calls and my house is exploding with noise of all 5 of our house phones ringing over and over again. This does nothing for my anxious mind, which is cooking up all the ways I could die right now. My heart is absolutely racing out of my chest. I'm too scared to move from where I was huddled on our living room couch, constantly looking left and right and listening as hard as I could for any other sound over the ringing of the phones.

45 minutes later my mom finally shows up and I'm at my wit's end. I'm practically on my knees begging and crying for her to call the cops, which she does with much irritation towards me. While the cops said they couldn't do much about it right then and there, their presence was enough: the calls stop for good.

Was that online friend I'd been talking to actually an online predator? I doubt it because I had skyped with that particular friend (video and voice) multiple times before and they sounded nothing alike. Was my mom too blasé about the whole situation? Definitely. Did this guy have access to my shitty desktop, or was he just peeking in through the windows, or both? Was he pretending to not know my name? I don't know.

Either way, dear creepy phone stalker: let's not meet.