Chapter 3

While I was closing a major deal and basking in the entire department's admiration, Kevin was getting his first taste of life as a full-time housewife.

At noon, he lay on the couch, happily waiting for his expensive delivery.

The lock suddenly turned with a click. His mother, whom he called the most reasonable woman alive and I knew as a monster of a mother-in-law, let herself in with the spare key without knocking, exactly as always.

"Olivia! It's noon and you haven't started lunch? Are you trying to starve my grandson?" Sofia had not even reached the living room before her shouting filled it.

Kevin, in my body, jumped and sat up. "Mom, what are you doing here? I didn't feel like cooking today. I ordered in."

His tone was casual, with a hint of wheedling. In the past, one sentence like that would have made Sofia beam.

"My son works so hard. Let me cook you a steak."

But he had forgotten. He was Olivia now.

Sofia saw the takeout on the coffee table, and her face darkened instantly. She rushed over and swept the $60 sushi order onto the floor.

"Ordering delivery? You freeloading little parasite! You live off the Carter family, you don't earn a cent, and you still have the nerve to order delivery!"

Sauce splattered across Kevin's pants. His eyes went wide with shock, and he shot to his feet. "Mom! Have you lost your mind? What's wrong with buying myself a meal with my own money?"

"Crack!" A clean, ringing slap landed hard across Kevin's face.

Sofia jabbed a finger at him, spraying spit across his face. "Your own money? You never even went to college. If my son hadn't taken pity on you and married you, you would still be flipping burgers at a fast-food joint!

"Every penny you spend is money my son earned!"

Kevin was stunned by the blow. He held his cheek and stared at the woman who had always doted on him and never had a harsh word for him.

"You... you hit me?" He trembled with rage.

"I'm Kevin! I'm your son!"

"How dare you talk back? You've gone completely out of your mind!" Sofia dismissed his words as another deranged outburst. She turned, grabbed a broom from the balcony, and brought it down hard across his calves.

"Don't think you can run wild just because my son isn't home! Go! Strip every couch cover and curtain in this living room and wash them! Not in the machine! That wastes water and power! You get in that bathroom and do it by hand! And if they aren't done, don't expect any lunch today!"

It was the dead of winter, and the tap water was numbingly cold.

Kevin had never suffered anything like it. He tried to fight back, grabbing the broom.

"I'm not washing them! Wash them yourself!"

That pushed Sofia into a rage. She dropped to the floor and started wailing at the top of her lungs. "Help! This is criminal! She's assaulting an old woman! I can't live like this! I'm calling 911 and having you arrested!"

Her voice carried, and before long, neighbors across the hall and upstairs were poking their heads out and pointing. Kevin, who was obsessed with appearances, stood there wearing my face under their contemptuous stares and wished the floor would swallow him.

In the end, he lowered his head, did as Sofia ordered, yanked down the heavy curtains, and dragged them into the bathroom.

The moment the cold water covered the backs of his hands, he began to shiver. The couch covers soaked up the water until they were as heavy as stones, and the untrained female body he now wore could barely scrub the fabric by hand.

In less than half an hour, his back hurt too much to straighten, and the tendinitis in his wrist had him drenched in sweat.

And this was only the beginning.