Dorothy Hargrove

## Personality

tba

## Biography

Dottie grew up in the suburbs of California to a middle class family. Her father was an attorney in town and her mother worked at a florist shop. She was an only child and relatively spoiled at home. She got nearly anything she wanted and always craved adventure. She was the type of child to climb trees and build sandcastles until they were taller than her. She was beautiful and smart and what she dreamed of most was traveling the world.

After a gap year spent travelling world, she met a man named Neil who swept her off her feet. He wasn’t exotic or rich, but he was funny and he made her feel safe. Her parents disliked him. They called him a fraud and a rat, but Dottie was sure it was love. She had never felt this way before, and she was sure this was the key to her fairytale ending.

And it didn’t take long to find out she was pregnant. Under the threat of her parents, Dottie and Neil married. She came from a reputable family and her parents wouldn’t have the family name tarnished over a premarital affair. Neil agreed hesitantly, but it was better than being in jail. And Dottie was happy at first. The prospects of starting a new family and living a quaint little life in the suburbs gave her hope. But once the novelty of newlyweds wore off the real side of Neil began to surface.

The Neil she met was kind and thoughtful. He remembered little details she told him and treated her like a queen. He complimented her and showed her off to the world. But the Neil she was married to was manipulative and deceitful, using guilt and gaslighting to lure her into a sense of hopelessness. He critiqued her and insulted her to lower her self-esteem. He forbade her from having too many friends or leaving the house too often. And by the time her son was born, Dottie had no friends and very little contact with her family. She was completely isolated from the world, her and her unborn child.

Her only salvation was her son, Billy. He was a guiding light in the darkness and she wouldn’t have made it as long as she did if it weren’t for him. She would find solace at the beach watching her son surf and play in the waves, wishing one day it would sweep them both away to a new life. She found peace in the moments spent watching her baby grow into a man that would never treat women the way his father did.

But as the years passed, the violence grew more and more severe. Simple wrist grabbing turned to slaps, that turned to punches that turned to blackouts. She wasn’t perfect and she would fight back, hoping it would make him realize his wrongs. But it only made it worse, and Billy was suffering because of it. One night they fought so bad that she threw a plate at him, slicing his face open and only fueling his rage. She spent the night locked in the bathroom, clutching Billy as they lay in the tub until sunrise when Neil left for work. The next day, she ran. She picked up Billy, and she vanished without saying a single word to her husband.

### **Verses**

#### Pacifist

When Dottie runs away to escape Neil's wrath, she takes Billy with her. Dottie & Billy move to Hawkins, Indiana on a whim. They stopped in Hawkins on their way to New York and she fell in love with the small-town vibes. She scored a job in town and she decided that this is where she and her son ought to be.

#### True Ending

When Dottie runs away to escape Neil's wrath, she abandons her son Billy. She doesn't keep in contact very well, sending a postcard here and there before all communication died out.

## Connections

* William "Billy" Hargrove (son)
* Neil Hargrove (ex-husband)
* Doris "Dory" Anderson (mother)

## Mains/Exclusives

* puppetoffthehook (Billy)