A Freak Twist of Fate: Trey's Unexpected Journey in Josefina's Body

One sunny afternoon, 7-year old Trey found himself alone in Roberto's house with Roberto's mom, Josefina. His best friend Roberto was away with his aunt and would not be back for a few days. Trey, with his brown hair and brown eyes, wearing his favorite t-shirt, jeans, and light-up shoes, was upstairs, engrossed in the TV. Downstairs, Josefina, a piled-high bun crowning her black hair, and sunglasses gracing her brown eyes, was preparing to go out. She wore a large black tank top, skintight short shorts, and thong sandals. Her red-painted nails glistening, hoop earrings in her ear, wedding ring on her finger, and purse on her shoulder; she was a picture of a well-put-together woman. Suddenly, the sound of Josefina's voice reached Trey's ears. "Trey! Come down here, dear!" Intrigued, Trey quickly ran downstairs and stood before Josefina, his eyes beaming with innocence. "Yes? Did you need help with anything?" He asked. Josefina looked at him and asked, "Would you like to accompany me to the store, Trey? And, what's my name?” Excitedly, Trey answered, "Yes, I'd love to! And your name is Josefina." That's right," Josefina said in satisfaction. Her smile threatened to split her face as she took off her sunglasses, let down her hair bun, removed her hoop earrings, wedding ring, and purse, and kicked off her sandals. Without warning, Josefina rushed towards Trey and gripped his arms tightly. The sudden intensity scared him, and he cried out in shock, "Ow! That hurts! Please, let me go!" Strangely, his voice had changed—taking on a pronounced accent identical to Josefina's. His words echoed around them, scaring him even more. Overwhelmed, he stumbled towards a nearby mirror, feeling a strange heaviness in his body. Looking down, he cringed as he spotted long red painted nails - not his. There were also inexplicable mounds on his chest, bouncing slightly as he moved. A gasp escaped his lips as he stared at his reflection—it wasn't his body in the mirror, but Josefina's. "This isn't right; I want to go back to my body," he begged. "Absolutely not happening. I'm not switching back with you ever. Your new name is Josefina, and you are married with a husband. Finish getting ready for the grocery store. Put on your sunglasses, your purse, your hoop earrings, your wedding ring and your thong sandals, and put your hair back up in a bun right now!" Josefina commanded from his body. Trey was panic-stricken, but he picked up the hoop earrings and fixed them to his ears. He put on the sunglasses, slipped the wedding ring on a finger, slung the purse over his shoulder, slid his feet into the sandals, and twisted the hair up in a bun. His borrowed reflection made him cringe. "Now, I want to hear you say your name is Josefina and you are 48 years old, and you shall refer to me as ma'am or miss. Say it in broken English," Josefina ordered. Trey opened his mouth to vehemently refuse, but instead, heard his own voice escape, saying, "My name is Josefina, I am 48 years old, and I shall call you ma'am or miss." "Now, I want to hear you compliment your wedding ring, your nails, your hoop earrings, and talk about how you can't wait for your husband to get home," Josefina demanded. Again, against his will, with words that sounded alien to him, Trey found himself saying, "I love my wedding ring, my nails are pretty, my earrings are beautiful, and I miss my husband. I can't wait for him to come home." "Now, I want to hear you bemoan the fact of being white and American, not being Mexican, and not knowing Spanish," Josefina continued mercilessly. With mounting horror, Trey found himself saying, "I regret being white and American. I wish I were Mexican and spoke Spanish." "Now I want to see you stand up, pull the sunglasses down over your eyes, adjust your purse, walk towards me the way I always do, and tell me to go home. You are to sever ties with my son, Roberto, and tell my husband to deal with me if I return." As surely as a puppet on strings, Trey stood up, adjusted the sunglasses over his eyes, reached out to arrange the purse on his shoulder, and strolled towards Josefina in that particular way she always used to. With a sinking heart and tears welling up in his eyes, he found himself saying, "Go home, never come back, never speak to Roberto again. If you do return, I'll tell my husband to handle you." With that, Josefina turned to leave, and Trey started crying. As he sobbed, he realized he was not switching back to his original body. He would never see his mother again, and his heart broke. In broken English, he sobbed out, "I'm gonna miss mommy so much! I didn't do anything wrong!"