I like the nighttime.  
Apart from it being the perfect time to pluck ripe udala without being reprimanded by adults,  
It was a perfect spot for Shinaayo and me.  

Young as we were,  
We were driven by a high force,  
The force that made our playmates choose us to act as mummy and daddy since our "chemistry" was noticeable.  
It was where we nestled pretending to do our assignments as groups,  
And it was where we held our hands for the first time and he told me a very subtle and shy "I love you". 

It was also where we met after school, where no adult could see us.  
Most times, our friends guarded and whistled if any adult was coming close by.  
As we grew older, we met without the monitoring of our friends.  

It was where we shared our first Udala fruit and giggled at how we had bitten from the same spot.  
It was where we dug and hid our very simple but romantic love letters.  
We grew, and as we grew, the intensity of our relationship changed.  

It was where he beat Mezie to a bloody pulp after Mezie tried to look under my skirt.  
It was where he kissed me, a very simple kiss on my cheek,  
A sign of farewell as he left for boarding school.  

When he came back, it was where we first met as older people,  
And he had called me "mine".  
Then he kissed me,  
An act I couldn't get over for weeks.  

It was where he felt my rosebuds for the first time.  
I was too shy to feel the things between his legs,  
Which he later told me grew fuller at the thought of me.  
It was where we made a promise to love ourselves for as long as we breathed.  

It was where our parents had caught us after being tipped by Mezie, who was definitely still upset over his brawl with Shinaayo, and had dragged us home  
To deal with us, but not without hurling insults at us.  
He was barred from seeing me.  
I was barred from seeing him.  

But he still snuck over at night to give me pepper soup  
When he heard I was on my period.  
And then on the day I found out the udala tree had been cut down,  
I found out Shinaayo had gone to the white man's land.  

It was under the no longer existent tree that I cried like a baby.  
I had wept for days until I found out he had snuck some letters to me through Tonye, our oldest friend.  
He promised to come back for me.  

Days turned into weeks,  
Weeks turned into months,  
And months turned into years.  

And now as I sit under the modified udala tree,  
With a bench and all sorts of love markings,  
I know we have become a tale for the younger people,  
Something to believe in.  
This place is now a leisure park for lovers,  
And obviously, it's owned by the guy who has stolen my heart since I was twelve.  

Our names, Shinaayo and Kamara,  
Are boldly written on a love-shaped statue in the middle of the park.  
I sigh as it begins to rain.  
Obviously, Shina is here,  
And I am here.  

We can't be together,  
Not me and him,  
Not publicly.  
He is joined to her,  
I am to be married to someone else.  

I look at him at the other end, and I know he feels it too.  
At least the children here benefit from the money gotten from this beautiful park.  
It holds a story I wouldn't share now.  

So dear Oluwashinaayo Zyan Adegoke, no matter how far we are,  
Who we are with,  
Our love would still shine brightest.  

Rest in Peace, my love!