Archive | Brainwave Musings

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

First-Person

Oct 4, 2026

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4 min read

Old Men, Old Ways

For three days and three nights Eddie crawled, convinced he was seeing some Italian countess waiting for him at the end of his struggle. He crawled, convinced that the status quo had to change. He would no longer take business advice from an old man who eats steak all day, steams the hairs on his body, and talks to mythical dwarfs in his head.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Sep 13, 2026

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5 min read

There Are No Bitches In Uganda

It is difficult to reconcile the man she describes with the man I know. He is barely present in the homestead nowadays. He is there in the flesh, but most of the time he appears to be somewhere else. He stares into the distance. He sleeps. He looks at the sky for long stretches..

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Sep 6, 2026

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5 min read

Crying Over Spilt Porridge

In my growing wisdom, I told her the old adage that felt too perfectly suited to the moment: she should not cry over spilt ice cream. I felt like Jesus explaining a parable to a particularly difficult crowd. I told her that perhaps this was the universe sending her a message. She needed to stop crying over whatever else had already happened and could no longer be changed.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Aug 30, 2026

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3 min read

An Epiphany On Pooping

Pooping is a strangely instructive process. You push a little, then think about something else. You notice the smallest sign of progress, then check your phone, or try to recall a dream. You catch a moment when the body seems willing, then let things settle again.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Aug 9, 2026

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2 min read

Bugs

This has more to do with fomo than bugs.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Aug 5, 2026

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3 min read

Something’s Coming

Something so bad it has brought universes together, and people are getting serious about their lives.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Aug 2, 2026

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3 min read

Story For Another Day

Was he showing me his battle scars? Greeting me after days away? Or was he simply exhausted from whatever it takes to survive as a stray who has one foot on the street and another in a place he now calls home?

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Jul 26, 2026

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4 min read

35 Days

Audacity can be an irritating trait when used badly. Used well, it is like a counter-attacking football team: when it works it is unstoppable. After all, the wahenga have been asking the same question for generations: nani atanichapa?

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Jun 21, 2026

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2 min read

Boxers

I'm writing this from Siaya on my phone. It's tough to write on a phone, tougher in boxers, and tougher still on a hot night.

Juma Reagan

First-Person

Jun 14, 2026

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5 min read

What Was He Like.. Before Corona?

He laughed, a lot. He wanted to work with racehorses. He loved. Aaah, but not a single man came back the same. Some never returned at all.

Juma Reagan

Letters & Lovers

Jun 7, 2026

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4 min read

Who’s Jules?

You know what they say: if a man is going to be rejected, he might as well be rejected by a pretty woman. At least then he has a good story to keep telling himself.

Juma Reagan

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