Mikey tried to ask Benny where he was going, but all his friend ever told him was that he needed to find new clothes, that he didn't like the ones he was wearing. After about five minutes of getting nowhere with his interrogation, Mikey decided to just follow along with his friend and see where he was headed to.
Benny's destination turned out to be a house Mikey had never seen before. Did Benny know someone who lived there? His friend walked right up to the front door and opened it. Apparently, it was unlocked. And then he walked straight in. Mikey was about to follow him inside, but was stopped by a woman's voice.
"Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" the woman asked from behind him.
Mikey turned around and saw a middle-aged woman. She was apparently doing some gardening. "I'm just here with Benny," he told her.
"Benny? Benny who?" she asked.
"He already went inside," Mikey said, turning and gesturing at the door. But then he saw that the door was shut. He tried to open it, but it was locked. But it wasn't a moment ago.
"I think you should leave," the woman said. "I don't like boys pulling pranks."
"I'm not pulling a prank. Benny went into your house. I swear."
Inside the house, Benny walked all the way to the master bedroom, then opened one of the drawers, pulling out a plain white bra, panties, and a pair of nude stockings. Then he opened the closet and pulled out a bright yellow sun dress and a pair of 2-inch heels. After taking off all of his clothes, the 10-year old boy donned the new clothing (all of it fitting him well enough, despite his body being so much smaller), then expertly applied subtle make-up to his face. Looking in the mirror, he found his appearance to be satisfactory. All desire of wanting to play video games and watch cartoons and hanging out with his friends (mainly Mikey) disappeared from his mind. He had better things to do than to focus his time on such childish things.
"I don't know what you think ..." Suddenly, the woman stopped talking and didn't seem to be angry anymore. Then she dropped the garden spade she was holding and began walking down towards the street.
Mikey watched the woman casually walk across the street, then down to the corner. She wasn't in a daze or anything, but the fact that she just dropped her conversation with Mikey and then just headed off in some random direction did seem a bit odd, and Mikey was sure that this must have had something to do with his wish.
He turned around and pounded on the door. "Benny! Open up! I know you're in there!" he shouted. Please be in there and please be normal, he thought to himself.
The door opened, revealing Benny. But Mikey's friend was wearing different clothing ... clothing that seemed similar to what that woman was wearing. Could it be that Benny had taken the woman's place, just like that Tiffany girl had taken his mother's? Mikey had a strong feeling that the answer was "yes".
"Oh dear, I wonder who that could be," Benny Whitefield muttered, as he walked to the front door. Whoever it was seemed to be making quite a racket.
He opened the door and saw a young boy standing outside, looking quite distressed.
"Yes? Can I help you?" he asked. Oddly, the boy looked kind of familiar to him, but then the feeling of familiarity passed.
"Benny, you're different," the boy said.
"Do I know you? How do you know my name?"
The boy looked heartbroken for some reason. Benny really felt badly for him. The boy really looked distressed about something and he really wanted to help, but ... but ... he had gardening to do. Yes, that's right. How had that slipped his mind?
He walked out the door, past the boy, and picked up the garden spade that was lying on the sidewalk. "I'm sorry, but I really need to get this gardening done. I can't really be bothered at the moment."
The boy just stared at him, although he didn't know why. But it didn't stop him from getting back to his garden.
After a little while, the boy just left, leaving Benny to wonder what the boy was so upset about.
And the woman whose place Benny took (Stacy Whitefield, mother of Jay Whitefield) continued her walk to find new clothes, not caring about her garden or any of the other multitude of house chores she had to complete.
