I wanted a place where I could write random thoughts. Unfiltered. To someone who has three or so minutes to waste on musings.

Written by: Juma Reagan

First-Person

In Cash We Trust

It is getting late. Dark clouds are gathering; a storm is threatening to descend, and as if not enough, I am one shoe down. Loafers that I’d just bought recently to impress my SDA deaconess, somehow lost it in the commotion.

Juma Reagan

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Nov 14, 2026

First-Person

Blood Tastes Of Metal

I did what I thought had to be done. There was no room for a dead cat or dog in the compound. Left unattended the bodies would begin to stink and attract all manner of visitors from the circle of life. Nor was there much room for stray animals in the yard, particularly those that might bite a small child like myself. I had my reasons. Whether they were good reasons is perhaps a different discussion.

Juma Reagan

•

Nov 13, 2026

First-Person

Ong’oma

Bullies, or prefects really, never quite leave your mind. They return to haunt you years after you've moved on (or think you have) from their grip. Years after you've acquired new bullies in your life, this time in the shapes of a failing economy and a president.

Juma Reagan

•

Nov 12, 2026

First-Person

You Are NOT The Protagonist!

You meet a village boy who is quicker at mathematics than you will ever be, no matter how many extra lessons you take. A city boy whose only interaction with cows has been through coloured Biology textbooks, only to be thoroughly humbled during the first week of PE by boys from the village who have been playing football since they could walk.

Juma Reagan

•

Nov 11, 2026

Favourites

Letters & Lovers

Dec 21, 2025

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2 min read

Letters to Cheptolo, II: Lady Santa

Lady Santa visited me the other day. She brought me an early Christmas present and promised me a book early next year. I cannot wait.

Juma Reagan

Letters & Lovers

Dec 6, 2025

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1 min read

Leaving

She’s accused you of being unserious, of offering no scent of a future, of gambling and drinking away every weekend instead of finding a job, or even looking for one. And each time she left for her sister’s, she came back when your inborn Luo charm convinced her that tomorrow would be different. But tomorrow never arrived.

Juma Reagan

Ink Sessions

Dec 4, 2025

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6 min read

Tattoo On The Left Boob

The tattoo was simply another way to define who she was, to cement her defiance against everything she despised in this patriarchal society. To defy the gods who took her parents too early. To challenge her grandmother, who was still too steeped in religion to understand that even gods, surely, had tattoos.

Juma Reagan

Vignettes

Mar 16, 2025

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8 min read

The Iniquity of My Father

Mzee’s last wishes

Juma Reagan

Chicken Consultancy

We discussed almost everything that could be discussed about chicken, but very little about anything else. No politics, no trending nonsense, no debates about the decency of five-star hotels or the captive, mysterious sweetness of street-side mayai pasua and smocha.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 9, 2026

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4 min read

Counter-Attacking Football

The last time it happened I was still in primary school, fresh off the 2010 South African World Cup. I didn't know what it was. I wasn't even a Madridista yet. I was still shitting my pants and drawing squiggles in my exercise books.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 8, 2026

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3 min read

Bad Neighbour

He looks straight at me, seemingly expecting me to say something, but also hoping I will keep my mouth shut. I know him, but I do not know him that well. Over the time I have lived here I have seen quite a number of different girls come in and out of his apartment. He is a comrade with needs, I suppose.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 7, 2026

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3 min read

Badiesto Badiesto

We would stick our noses and necks out of the windows to catch some air, then release it in song and laughter. Singing "Badiesto! Badiesto!" as we wound our way to glory. It was nothing close to war cries, and even further removed from kindergarten rhymes, but the adrenaline rush..

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 6, 2026

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3 min read

I Hope They Remember You

That great and dreadful day is coming. It is as certain as the rising of the sun. It is inevitable. I have to prepare for it. The world has to prepare for it.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 5, 2026

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2 min read

Day Five??

They will have you looking for them all the way to the borders of Sirare, through the bright lights and expensive corridors of Sarova Hotel. They won't care that you are desperately trying to do something of your own beyond debits and credits.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 4, 2026

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2 min read

Nocturnals

She's seated on her balcony, smoking a cigarette and watching the dark sky turn. She seemed perfectly comfortable there, surrounded by the quiet of the night and whatever thoughts kept her company.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 3, 2026

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3 min read

Waiting Room

Everyone watches her lips move. Her voice is a drab monotone, yet her words carry an unsettling finality. She is like some small god, capable of sentencing someone to the rest of their life with a stroke of her pen, all in the time it takes to finish reading this sentence.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 2, 2026

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2 min read

Alpha Male

If I ever found myself in a physical contest over a girl, I imagine I'd want to lose a couple of rounds first. Not because I particularly enjoy losing, but because I'd want to know whether she'd stick around and love a loser.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Nov 1, 2026

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2 min read

Limbo

While it seems the rest of the world is busy counting its wins and gearing up for a grand finale, I am still awake, counting my losses. They have begun to overwhelm me. They are starting to feel unbearable, and not many things are unbearable to me.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Oct 18, 2026

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4 min read

Macabre

Its voice, entangled with the wailing of children, the rolling thunder, and the voice of a pastor preaching somewhere in the chaos, is a haunting cacophony I vividly recall to this day.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Oct 11, 2026

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4 min read

Friends Indeed

He's made three calls since we left Sarit. They must have a WhatsApp group where they look out for one another. In this industry, in any industry really, you need people who have your back. You can't always, if ever, depend on Atwoli and co to fight for your collective rights.

Juma Reagan

...

Recommendations

The doctor recommends these. . .

In Cash We Trust

Blood Tastes Of Metal

Ong’oma

You Are NOT The Protagonist!

Favourites

Letters to Cheptolo, II: Lady Santa

Leaving

Tattoo On The Left Boob

The Iniquity of My Father

Archive

Chicken Consultancy

Counter-Attacking Football

Bad Neighbour

Badiesto Badiesto

I Hope They Remember You

Day Five??

Nocturnals

Waiting Room

Alpha Male

Limbo

Macabre

Friends Indeed

Recommendations

Brainwave Musings