Lack of Self Control

     He knew better, but his lack of self-control got the best of him.   After running low on cash, he decided to go back at HIS house for a gas can to fuel his truck; after all, he was entitled to half of everything, dammit!

     Although he was trying to get disability benefits for his neck injury, he managed to jump over the five foot chain link fence at about 3:45 am.  After cutting the plastic hanldle off the shed, he grabbed the gas can and dropped it back over the other side of the fence.  He couldn't resist a peak in the kitchen window of HIS house.  In the darkness, he could see a stepladder with a bucket of paint next to it.  "She's been painting while I'm out standing out here in the fuckin' cold!"

     He had been banking on getting a check from their insurance agent for the fire damage, but this made him wonder if she got it first.  "That bitch better not get MY money after the trouble I went through to get it."  He shivered as he looked over to the blackened stove that sat next to him on the deck.  It briefly occurred to him that she could try to pin him for arson, but he doubted it.

     Seeing a light flash on in the living room, he knew it was time to leave.  He flicked his cigarrette behind him as he casually walked off the deck.  His teenage daughter, alone in the house while her mother was working the third shift, frantically dialed for help.  She knew exactly who the intruder was.