They were involved in that awkward procedure of getting to unknow each other. (John Irving)

A firm rapping on the window startled me.

“Penny! Penny!” cheered the frayed-looking lady. “Penny, you came home.”

“Drive, just drive,” I said in a hushed but firm voice from behind my mother.

“Mom!” The word was like a ray of sunshine breaking through her gray cloudy face. Suddenly everything was in color.

My mother hopped out of the car and raced around to embrace her mother. It was a touching little scene. They both cried and I was uncomfortable. I tried to blend in with the black leather interior.

“Is this the baby?”

My mother didn’t make words just awkward sniffling snorting sounds. It was unattractive.

The woman, my new grandmother, climbed into the backseat and held me. She rocked me and cried. She smelled like beets. She was really soft but maybe not in a good way. She wasn’t nearly as beautiful as my mother. I wondered how long this hug would last. I began to go through the periodic table of elements in my head as I waited for it to end. I had a chemistry exam coming up and I didn’t need to but I wanted to memorize the periodic table. I got through the noble gases and she was still clenching me – it was beginning to hurt a little. I finished the non-metals and had recalled almost all the semimetals before she released me.

“Let me look at you,” she cried. “My God, you’re beautiful.”

Maybe I could warm up to this woman.