Under the cashew tree.

I could remember my first day at school,
That was the day Feranmi laid on Lola and ripped her off of her pinafore,
Aunty, Aunty, Feranmi has impregnated Lola,
She laughed, 4-year old lad don't get pregnant, she said,

We were astonished, what about the ones we watched on tv?
And that was just the beginning of an interesting primary school education.

We laughed, we talked, we gist and we played,
We were partly dummies and partly genius,
We were young fellows whose life is paddled by vain realities of the adults' world,
We were good gossips, of course we will not stop waiting for another Feranmi and Lola show,
But then she came, just at the second year of my primary school education,
The light skinned and fair girl.

She became the talk of the class,
Chidinma and Tosin will not stopped gossiping about her,
Roseline was jealous of what could be the next move of Tobi,
Simplicity was her style,
And she took over the class with that talent.

She caught my attention at primary four,
When we would wait to do lesson with uncle Tosin after school hours,
Uncle Tosin will not stopped sending us on an errand to mummy salewa's place,
Fried fish and garri were always welcome on Uncle Tosin's table before lesson starts,
We lived almost at thesame street,
She stays at Iwajowa and I igbehinadun street, opposite A.c.e and adjacent Yetunde's celestial church,
We would talk and laugh while going back home,
And we will also stopped and have a taste of that late cashew at Aro's place.

Under the cashew tree,
Under the cashew tree is where we would lie and talk,
We would talk about the day, how Ezekiel winked at her,
And how Kike won a piece of groundnut during quiz competition,
I could remember the day its juice poured on my white round neck,
She offered to help in cleaning it with a radiant and young smile,
Under the cashew tree is where our lives lie after Uncle Tosin's lesson,
We would not stop playing with the dried leaves and sturbborn etigi,
I would see her off to her house and her to mine,
And of course, I became her mother's youngest son-in-law.

John will always come first and we all will not stop complaining that he has done igbere,
I would be the second best student and she, the third,
We would debate together and go out for competitions,
We loved ourselves and my eyes could not imagine another boy with her,
I got furiosed the day I heard she bath with her neighbour who was a boy,
Even though there are no grapes on her chest yet and her lips are not yet matured to kiss,
But being jealous was my best girdle then,
That was how strong my little brain could carry me then.

And then she left,
I proceeded to primary six and she from primary five to J.s.s one,
She became my senior at academic level,
Fatimah, Dr. Jimoh's daughter who is currently my H.o.d at English Department will not stop accompanying her to Demonstration secondary school,
And I, the new and young senior prefect boy who just lost his queen,
We hardly see, we hardly talk,
Distance stole our friendship and love away,
The cashew tree was caught years later and the land was used for sport centre,
Secondary school Education defined a new life for us,
She left and I left,
I fell in love and she fell out of love,
Even though higher institution did joined us together again,
The cashew tree is gone,
And we have now become aliens to each other.

Under the cashew is where our ignorant and childish love began,
And that was where it ended,
Where is the cashew tree?
Where is my primary school love?

#Dedicated to my primary school matelover
#Gospel nur&pry school, olanubi str.
#Oguntimehin Bukky*(ACE Degree 3, Yoruba Dept)
#Caleb bresh

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