Chapter Eight: Tim and Dotty:

Tim and Dotty were always together. They seemed to love and hate each other. Both constantly fought around the house.

“I hate you!” she yelled at him.

“I hate you too, you cow!” Tim shouted back.

“Why don’t you just die?!” Dotty cried. I knocked on their bedroom door.

“Excuse me,” I said. “I brought your food.” It went quiet before the door opened. Tim poked his head out and looked down at me.

“Oh, it’s you,” he said. “Just leave the tray there.” I set the tray down at the door.

“Are you okay?” I asked. Tim gave me a funny look.

“What do you mean?” he asked. I shrugged my shoulders at him.

“You and Dotty sounded angry,” I said. Tim’s face changed when I said that.

“Oh!” he said. “We’re fine. It’s just a stupid fight.” I stood on my tip-toes to look at Dotty. She sat on the bed, smiling and waving at me. I waved back at her confused.

“Hi…” I mumbled.

“Anything else?” Tim asked. I quickly shook my head.

“No,” I said.

“Bye,” he whispered. Before I knew it, Tim closed the door in my face. I blinked when I got it.

“Okay…” I mumbled. As I turned and walked away, they went back to yelling at each other again.

“You are such a liar!” Dotty screamed.

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“Daddy, why do Tim and Dotty fight all of the time?” I asked in the kitchen. Daddy closed the cabinet, chuckling to himself.

“They are in love,” he said.

“Love?” I asked, tilting my head. He turned around with a smile on his face.

“There are different kinds of love,” he said. “They happened to be loud and aggressive with each other.”

“But why fight?” I asked. “Doesn’t that mean they hate each other?”

“No, no, no,” Daddy said, shaking his head. “That’s their way of showing that they love each other.” I still didn’t’ understand what he was talking about. The others seemed to agree with him too.

“They’ve been married for years,” Andy told me. “Fighting is their only way of communicating sometimes.”

“Like now?” I asked. We froze and listened to Tim and Dotty shouting at each other again. Andy nodded, pressing his lips together.

“Yep,” he said. “Just like now.” When Tim and Dotty fought, Tim would always come out of the room with a face so red. I would look into the room and see Dotty with her arms folded across her chest, frowning.

“Go on, see if I care!” she shouted. One day, Tim didn’t come back. I found Dotty sitting on her bed, crying.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, walking through the open door. She looked up at me with tears ruining her make-up.

“He’s gone!” she cried. “Tim’s gone!”

“Gone?” I asked. “Gone where?”

“Tim’s left me!” Dotty wailed. “We got into another fight two days ago and he still hasn’t come back!” She lowered her head on the pillow. “What if he doesn’t come back?” she cried. I stood quiet in the doorway. I had never seen her cry like this before. Daddy tried to calm her down.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “He’ll come back soon.” Dotty looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“What if he doesn’t?” she asked.

“He will,” he insisted. For five days, Tim didn’t come home.

“Think we should go to the police?” Hong whispered.

“And tell them what?” Thomas asked. The Fisher King shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know, a middle-aged man is lost after a fight with his wife,” he said. “We have to do something!”

“You don’t think Tim’s…” they heard a woman whimper in the kitchen doorway. Hong and Thomas looked up to see Dotty looking like she was about to cry again. Thomas waved his hands in the air.

“No, no!” he yelped. “This will be just in case.” Dotty sank down in the doorway sobbing.

“Nice one,” Hong whispered.

“Sorry,” Thomas whispered back. I watched them from the hallway. I hoped nothing bad happened to Tim. I secretly prayed that he would come back home safely. Then one day, he did. Dotty leapt on him, hugging him tight.

“Where did you go?!” she wailed. “Why didn’t you call?!” Tim hugged her back.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I got sick and ended having to go to the hospital for a few days.”

“Don’t do that to me again, you idiot!” she wailed. Tim patted Dotty on the head.

“I won’t,” he said back. “I promise you with all of my being.” That day, I got an idea of what love was.