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Sandra was a good daughter.  Every week she went to see her mother in prison. On Saturdays families of the prisoners were invited to visit. The families always brought sweet rolls. The guards always cut each sweet roll open to look for a hidden knife. When they tasted each roll, they would always eat about half of it. The chairman of the prison always welcomed the families but, of course, warned them not to bring knives or guns.

“It is worse when they look at our mail,” said Sandra’s mother, from behind the glass. “The guards empty all the money out of the letters so they can retire early. And then they read the letters and laugh about us to each other.”

“You must hate the guards,” said Sandra.

“Well, they are not all evil,” said her mother. “Some of them are even nice.  Some guards try to entertain us with their bad music. Of course, we have to sit and listen when they sing and play for us off-key. But then we make requests for songs that we know they can’t play. And sometimes we urge them to play more and more, though really we are laughing behind their backs.”

Sandra turned serious. “Did the court find anything new on your case?”

“My lawyer just sent a message yesterday, advising me to trust him,” her mother answered. “They are quite smooth, these lawyers. He also sent his bill with that.”

"Perhaps you should appoint a new one," said Sandra.

“They all profit from our bad luck,” said her mother. 

“The mystery is still what happened to father’s body" said Sandra. "It’s too bad that that blind minister heard you say you could kill father for spending all the loan money on cards.”

“It was an empty warning, but it was the biggest mistake that ever came from my lips.” Sandra’s mother said. “Except for saying “I do” when I married your father.”

Sandra brushed some dirt from the window. “It’s a rare soul who doesn’t make some kind of mistake,” she said.

“I still wonder about that large loan your father got from the bank, to pay for his disease.”

“Disease?” asked Sandra.

“Losing at cards every night. Say, whatever happened to that blind minister?” the mother asked.

“He disappeared with the church money after he spoke at your trial.”

“Do you suppose those two snakes made some kind of exchange?” the mother asked.

“That would be hard to prove, with both of them missing now…Well, I think it’s time to go.” Sandra began to rise.

“I certainly thank you for coming to see me. It’s not so bad here. They feed us all right, and we have the guards to entertain us.”

Sandra pressed her nose to the glass. “Well, I’m glad you are just a little bit happy here.”

“I’ll be fine. I aim to make the best of my life. You should too. Now don't worry about me, but just get on with your life.”

“Well…OK. I will get on with my life, somehow. So…Goodbye for now, mother.”

Sandra smiled as she walked out of the prison. She climbed into front of the big beautiful car, beside the blind minister who she had decided to marry.

“Is she happy?” said the man with the rough voice who was driving.

“I think so, Daddy,” said Sandra.

“She always just wanted somebody to give her a place to sleep and some food. I couldn’t always promise that,” he smiled over at his daughter. “But I can now.”

Just then a prison car came up behind them, with a red light on top. Sandra's father pulled the big car over to the side. It was a guard from the prison who walked up beside her father’s window holding something in his hand. He motioned for her father to bring the car window down.

“Did your girl here leave this hand-bag when she was talking to her mother?” the guard said  to Sandra’s father. He looked past the two men to Sandra.

“Oh yes, thank you so much,” said Sandra, smiling and taking the bag. “You people are so nice when I come here.”

Ready-to-Use

a.      nice: nice of someone  "It is nice of you to pay for my dinner."

b.     taste: It tastes good/bad.   "However, the dinner tastes bad."

c.      Mistake: make a mistake  "The cook made a mistake and put in too much salt."

d.     Luck: good luck with it "I've never had good luck with a meal in this place."

e.      Profit: make profit   "Even though they are bad, they still make a profit."

f.      Prison: send someone to prison "Why did they send the cook to prison."

g.     Blind: go blind  "Too much salt made his customers go blind."

h.     Welcome: welcome to  "Welcome to Seattle."

i.       Rough: rough draft  "The book will stay in rough draft form until I get time to finish it."

j.       Smooth: smooth talker  "Used car salesmen are often smooth talkers."