Sam Healy could easily be perceived as a quiet man. A quiet, punch in punch out kind of man. But despite his calm exterior many learned very quickly that Sam Healy was a quiet man with a screaming mind. His thoughts were bountiful and at large. Like the sunday paper they were bold in their black and white headings always sure to come charging out when his emotions took a hold of him. If two female inmates were caught in a passionate embrace it would be the older corrections officer the first announcing the headline "Two woman, One bed, To wrong!".
If a new officer came into his territory stirring the pot the opposite direction it would be Healy the first to pronounce "Officer Fails Phenomenally". Each time he welcomed a new inmate he was assigned to council he would remind them "No girlfriends. No nonsense. No problems." That was the Healy way, nice and proper. Straight and Forward. Black and White.
But that changed. Because of her.
It happened gradually the color coming into his black and white world. He first met her when he was new to his post and she was new to prison life. He was the first to show her around and despite the awkward situation they felt at ease with one another. She was so timid but every emotion she experienced was illuminated unapologetically. The first couple of weeks she didn't say much but when she did speak it was a special treat. He loved to hear the way her accent would string together syllables in a way he could never imagine. He especially enjoyed a moment when he heard one of the hispanic inmates standing beside him during lunch trying to pronounce her first name. He stared forward as he listened intently to the soviet siren say with a sigh "Galina. Its Galina." What a lovely name. Naturally he had seen her name written on paper hundreds of times but to hear her say it was a whole new story.
"Galina. Galiiiiina." Sam practiced saying her name feeling the vowels dance around on his tongue. "See just like that what he said!" the siren exclaimed. "Mr. Healy!" Sam turned to her feeling the heat on the back of his neck knowing he was caught eavesdropping. "Would you mind saying that again for Miss Rosa?" The officer felt the heat rise slightly as his sight landed on a set of sparkling blue eyes. Without looking away from the vision before him he breathed "Galina." The inmate and the officer remained frozen without sound. He watched as she let out a whimsical laugh and a faint blush began to appear on her cheeks. "Eh I'll just stick to calling you Red." Miss Rosa huffed unimpressed with the tender moment. From that moment on for ten years the black and white letters in his head would say "Inmate Reznikov". But whenever he would catch himself looking into the those sparkling blue eyes the name "Galina" would always appear in a shade of blush.