Early the next morning, Ma left for her half day of work like she does every Sunday. And I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep like I do every Sunday, only then I remembered.

There were Lucky Charms in the kitchen!

It was a mighty miracle that I’d talked Ma into buying them, but they’d been in the specials aisle with a big cutout leprechaun’s talkie bubble saying, “Magically Delicious!” and a sign boasting $2.50 for the giant size.

“Please, Ma?” I begged, and after a pause that included a sigh, a frown, and one stretched eyebrow, she said, “Just this once,” and put a box in the cart.

She wouldn’t let me touch them when we got home, though. “A treat for Sunday,” she’d said.

But now it was Sunday!

It was dark out, with everyone but Ma still snoozing off Saturday, but that didn’t change the day. It was Sunday! And there was a giant box of magic deliciousness and a whole gallon of milk right over there! How could anyone sleep through that?

I ate the first bowl, feeling nothing but happy. The second bowl, I slowed down a little, giving the marshmallow stars and moons a little time to soften while I thought about my story. I’d already written six pages, but I still wasn’t sure if the Ninja Cat Woman was good or evil.

It was weird not knowing. And after a while it crossed my mind that maybe she was both. Or somewhere in between. But thinking that made me feel like I was wearing a scratchy shirt that needed switchin’ out of. And quick!

So I poured myself another bowl of Charms, got my notebook, and got back to the Ninja Cat Woman, hoping she would show her true colors if I kept going. But after writing two more pages, I was feeling itchier than ever, and my stomach was killing me. I’d gobbled up half the Milky Way, and now a whole constellation of moons and stars was expanding at light speed inside of me. I was dying to get up and do something.

Ma has only one rule for me on Sundays, and every Sunday she repeats it: “Don’t you leave the apartment, Lincoln Jones.” She’ll usually tack on something cheerful, like, “There’s folks out there who’d kill you for your empty pockets.” And when I ask her, “Who’d do that?” she’ll say, “Lord, child, think! Folks who don’t know your pockets are empty! And that’s about everybody out there!”

One time it was, “Don’t you leave this apartment, Lincoln Jones. I don’t want to have to peel your splattered body off the street.” So I told her, “I know how to cross a street, Ma!” and she hit me back with, “But not everybody behind a wheel knows how to drive!”

So that’s how she makes sure I don’t get antsy to go anywhere. And usually, staying inside is not a problem. Usually, I sleep in and laze around and then read something or write a story. Usually, I love Sunday mornings and being alone and safe in my own place with new groceries.

It’s my favorite part of the week.

This Sunday, though, was different. It wasn’t even ten o’clock and I was sick of everything. I didn’t want to read, the Ninja Cat Woman story was going nowhere, and I sure didn’t want to eat.

And then a little voice started pointing out that Ma hadn’t done her usual don’t-leave-the-apartment scolding on her way out the door. Maybe she’d still been caught up in thinking about her sister and just forgot. Or maybe she’d figured the rule had already sunk deep enough inside my skull. Or maybe she couldn’t think of any new terrible thing that might happen to me if I left the apartment.

The little voice got a little bigger, reminding me how Ma had left me alone at the Laundromat and nothing bad had happened. Ma was probably starting to see that she didn’t need to fret so much. That I was fine on my own. Responsible.

’Course, if I actually went off and got splatted on the street, my poor mangled body would get whupped to Sunday.

Next Sunday, which, believe me, would be a whole lot of whuppin’.

My brain was doing double shifts, though, and what it worked out was that next door was the place to go. I could offer to lend a hand to an old lady…who had cats! And since I wouldn’t be leaving the apartment building…how could Ma be mad?

So I got up and walked out of the apartment without looking back.

Or locking the door.

Or checking to see if there were chunks of Charms stuck in my teeth.