Ta-cumba turned six. To celebrate, Papa and Dad took him to a restaurant for dinner. It wasn’t like any restaurant Ta-cumba had been to before. It was candle-lit and church-quiet.
As soon as Ta-cumba sat down, he had to go to the bathroom. His papa stood up and said, “Let’s go, sport.”
But Ta-cumba said, “I’m six. I can go by myself.” His papa pointed the way, and Ta-cumba headed to the back of the restaurant.
Ta-cumba found three doors. They all had words on them. One started with a W, one with an M, and one with a K.
Ta-cumba was smart. He was six. He couldn’t read the words, but he could sound out the first letter. W must be women, M must be men, and K must be kids.
He walked through the door and found himself in a room bursting with noise and grown-ups.
Prep cooks chopped vegetables chop chop chop.
Fry cooks stirred meat and vegetables in giant woks shwik shwik shwik.
Dishwashers loaded trays and slid them into giant machines clink clink woosh.
Ta-cumba walked up to the prep cooks and asked, “Where’s the bathroom?” They kept chopping chop chop chop.
He walked up to the fry cooks and asked, “Where’s the bathroom?” They kept stirring shwik shwik shwik.
He walked up to the dishwashers and asked, “Where’s the bathroom?” They kept loading dishes clink clink woosh.
Ta-cumba couldn’t wait any longer. “I have to pee!” he shouted.
The prep cooks stopped chopping.
The fry cooks stopped stirring.
The dishwashers stopped loading.
They looked at Ta-cumba as he held his knees together. They all rushed over and carried him to the men’s bathroom. Then the grown-ups all stood around him, looking worried. “I can do this myself. I’m six,” said Ta-cumba. The grown-ups filed out the door.
A few minutes later, Ta-cumba came out of the bathroom.
He walked past the prep cooks. They smiled at him.
He walked past the fry cooks. They smiled at him.
He walked past the dishwashers. They smiled at him.
Then Ta-cumba saw Papa and Dad at the end of the line. They looked at all the grown-ups who were still smiling. They looked back at their son, and they smiled, too.
Ta-cumba said, “See, I didn’t need any help. I told you: I’m six.”
Copyright © 2007 Mike Huber. All rights reserved.
Mike Huber is a preschool teacher who tells a new story every day in his class. He writes, builds, and performs puppet shows with his wife, Mary Jo Nikolai. They have performed at Heart of the Beast Theater and Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, and at the Minnesota Children’s Museum. Mike also plays drums, ukelele, mandolin, and guitar. Sometimes he plays drums with his feet and guitar with his hands! He has started writing songs with his three-year-old daughter, Johanna.
Christine Thornton is an illustrator, art teacher, and proud mother of two. Christine taught elementary school art for three years, until she became a mother. Now she works at home in her art studio, where she draws, paints, and gives art lessons to children. She recently illustrated her first children’s book, Heading to the Wedding. Christine lives with her husband and two children in the Chicago suburbs. You can visit her website at www.christinethornton.com.
