As soon as Todd got home, he jumped in the shower. He was going to be late for work, but that was going to have to wait, he really needed this shower. He stood there absorbing the warmth. It felt good. He had to try to settle his nerves. He was still shaking from all the excitement. He turned up the hot water a little and soaked it in. He took some deep breaths and tried to relax. 
  I am a murderer, he thought. I actually killed two people. If I get caught, I will surely go to jail for the rest of my life. How long is the rest of my life anyway? Maybe I'll get caught and then die. Or worse, maybe I'll get caught and live for forty more years.
   He somehow convinced himself that those two deserved to die. And he was doing Gods work when he killed them. After all, they were trying to kill him. And they had allready killed a boy and who knows, maybe more. It was either him or them and that gave him some peace of mind.
   He arrived at work an hour late. When he punched in, the clock was at eight-o-two. Then he heard that whiney voice again.
"You're late. What the hell happened to you, Todd?"
   Todd wondered if it was that obvious, how shook up he was. He turned to see Alfred and smiled a subservient smile. "My clock must have stopped, I really though it was seven o'clock, not eight. Are you sure this clock is accurate? I mean, was anyone else late?"
   Alfred just frowned. "Just you" he said sarcastically. "You better get in there, you have a lot of work piled up."
Todd went in his office and dove into his work. He buried his mind in it, to keep it occupied. He really got a lot done that day and Alfred was impressed.
   "You should be late more often, you got more work done today then you have all week." Alfred said smiling. It seemed like a genuine smile. Todd had never seen him smile like that. "This makes me look good, to the big boss" Alfred added. That explained it. He smiles for real only when he takes credit for somebody else's hard work.
   Todd punched out at three and went to the bar. He had one drink with the boys. He wanted to tell someone, but who? He looked around at all of his buddies. They were good guys, hard workers and honest people. He decided to tell no one. This was better kept to oneself. You never know how they would react. And Todd couldn't afford to take that chance.
   He finished his drink and walked home. When he got inside, he turned on the radio and threw a steak in the broiler. He found a hard loaf of french bread, dug out the soft middle with his fingers and put some butter on it.
   As he ate, he started reliving what had happened earlier that day. He remembered hitting the skinny guy with a brick. That was a home run. He laughed out loud. It actually felt good. He remembered chopping the fat guy in the shoulder. That felt good too. He laughed out loud again. This was great. He felt as though he had a purpose now. A legacy to leave behind. And that felt great. He used to wonder who he was. Now he knew. He is the guy who stands for justice. Old fashioned justice. The kind that mattered. He took out the garbage when he killed those two and it felt good. It was exuberating.
   He finished his meal, turned on the t.v. and sat on the couch. He watched the news. They didn't say anything about the little boy, or the two missing thugs. But every story was about a murder. A lady got killed in Chicago while fighting with a purse snatcher. A little girl got shot by a random bullet from a drive-by shooting. An old man had gotten beat to death while being robbed. One after the other, all terrible stories of innocent people getting killed by money hungry thugs. People who would kill you for five bucks.
   Why is it that these people are allowed to roam the streets, he wondered? Why doesn't anybody do something about it? Just then, he knew the answer. It was because they were all obeying the law. It was against the law to kill people and that was why all the good people didn't do it. The very law that they count on for their safety, was holding them back from protecting themselves.