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.