He looked in the mirror and was repulsed by what he saw. Where once smooth, soft skin had been, only ugly masses of scars remained. He looked absolutely hideous. He'd known that the hot tar was going to damage his skin, but he hadn't known that it was going to be this bad.
Vividly he remembered the pain. It had been worse than anything he'd ever felt in his entire life. The sensation of the tar splashing on his head, his shoulders, his legs had been utter agony. Yet he'd hurt Penny, too. She was his own daughter, and he'd hurt her badly. No wonder she hated him now. He knew that she always would.
He couldn't stand to look at himself. To know that he'd look like this for the rest of his life was more than he could bear. He couldn't stop thinking that if only he'd treated Penny right, if only he'd been a loving father to her, this never would have happened.
He knew that, deep down inside, he only had himself to blame, and that was something he'd have to live with for the rest of his life.