Jackson Biko's Blog

“I didn’t need to wear a bra until I was 18. This was a year after I got my first period, and 14 years before I got into a serious relationship, and decided I wanted to have babies at 32. …

The post Neema And Nathan first appeared on Bikozulu.

I love a good love story. And a good love story isn’t good if it doesn’t have pain and desperation running in its veins. It’s not a good love story if one of the characters doesn’t sigh and say, “I’m …

The post Nine Months first appeared on Bikozulu.

The hardest thing I went through last year was in June, when I followed my wife to Diani, where she had gone for work,” he says over the phone. To be clear, “followed” implies she went ahead, and he joined …

The post January Was Peaceful first appeared on Bikozulu.

He was the kind of man who looked like he knew his way around a tasting menu, the type who’d debate the merits of single-origin coffee beans with a barista. He was affluent, I decided, observing him from my corner …

The post The Guy first appeared on Bikozulu.

He’s in the business of moving things. Agricultural commodities, to be precise; cereals. Tea. Coffee. Halal meat products. The works. It doesn’t matter where. You want 3-tonnes of mint and chives to Dodoma in three weeks? He will get you …

The post Something Fishy first appeared on Bikozulu.

No sooner had she put a cigarette between her lips than a willowy waitress with a tremendous smile blew over to our table. “I’m sorry,” she gasped, “smoking isn’t allowed in the cafe.” She couldn’t have been a minute older …

The post Dear Dorothy first appeared on Bikozulu.

The gravediggers come with deep darkness the night before the burial. They walk the edges of the boma, avoiding the company keeping vigil under the erected tents, the singing choir, and the mourners in heavy jackets huddled in hired plastic …

The post It’s Time first appeared on Bikozulu.

There is no compelling reason why you don’t have cancer. Why any of us doesn’t have cancer. No special reason why our children are not going for chemo. Because we aren’t the chosen ones. We aren’t pure in deed and …

The post Eleven Lymphnodes first appeared on Bikozulu.

What separated them from meeting each other were five desks and a water dispenser. They worked on the same floor, for the same company, used the same elevator, parked in the same basement, yet they never met until a colleague …

The post Love Bomb first appeared on Bikozulu.

The most significant thing that happened last year was that I started living with my children again. If you are that sharp cookie who reads between the lines, you might have figured out by now that I haven’t always lived …

The post Leave Your Shoes Outside first appeared on Bikozulu.