Brave Song and Soulful Lyrics

My first impression of Tucker was a weak, clouded assumption that, to this day, I fully regret.

From looking at Tucker, I figured he was a cold, calculating murderer with a cold heart and a grim distaste for society, rules, and other human beings. These things are colorful and they have potential, and I was under the assumption Tucker felt like he had no potential and, as a result of this inadequacy, he despised the world. He was quiet and suspicious-looking, a personal opinion that sparked the fuse of distortion behind my initial judgment. Laura told me Tucker had been in prison, that he'd spent 7 years alone in solitary confinement. Now the most dangerous inmates aren't necessarily the ones in solitary confinement. Some may purposely wind up in solitary confinement. Seclusion means protection, from those inmates who are likely to cause trouble and inflict pain. One man at the LRC had murdered somebody, but I never asked who it was.

Was Tucker dangerous? Why was he out of prison? Had he been sent to the LRC to be reintegrated with people before he was to be reintegrated with society? What was the deal here?

After I talked to him, my own suspicion gradually withered until I realized he was shy, hesitant, and intimidated. I felt the LRC intimidated him. Sure, he'd been in prison, but the LRC housed crazy people, some of whom gave the phrase "different breed" a new meaning.

I was happy to see Tucker in stress management therapy. Never said a whole lot but, on the way back to the elevator, he hung back and talked to me. I have seen him in the community since his release from the LRC. I noticed him standing outside of the mall. I asked Tucker how he was doing. "Same old shit," he told me, and that was that.