How terrific, another day in the white-dominated country – Scotland. What could possibly go wrong? How did I find myself here you ask? Well it is a sad story.

My name is Likumbi, I’m fourteen I have dark skin and dark brown eyes. I’m tall and I have a kinky, curly afro, and in case you haven’t guessed, I’m African. My mom got married to Mr Ron Marshall, a wealthy Scottish doctor. She met him at the hospital where she works as a nurse.

My biological father died of lung cancer when I was a baby. As a result we became extremely poor. I no longer received my Superman toys, no longer went to the mall and there were no more movies for me. Life became horrible. Until one day, my mom introduced me to Mr Ron, my new stepdad. He seemed nice. I looked at his blonde hair and blue eyes and thick curly moustache. I wasn’t even done studying his physique when my mom interrupted me, “Likumbi, this will be your new father, we will be moving to Scotland next week,”

I could sense the sadness in her voice and then saw the tears she was holding back. In private, she told me that Ron had said Africa was a stupid, backward place where he wouldn’t live. This made me so vexed and angry. I hated Ron for that.

The day of the flight arrived. We got to the airport and boarded the plane. To be honest this was the first time I ever saw one. It was white with small windows that couldn’t be opened. It was so huge I felt like I was going into the tummy of a giant monster so I held my mom’s hand. I knew how childish and ridiculous it looked for a teenage boy to hold his mama’s hand in public, but I did it anyway. I didn’t give a damn about what people thought of me.

We got into the first class section and mom and I were the only black people there. Everyone stared at us like we were from Jupiter, I didn’t mind, I was too busy studying the plane’s interior to notice anything while mom on the other hand was afraid that they might want to touch her. After five minutes, the plane took off and I fell asleep instantly.

“Li…li…Kay…Moby, wake up,” Ron said, tapping my shoulder.

I woke up. “It’s Likumbi!” I angrily replied in my mind. I know how hard it is for a European to pronounce African names but at least he tried. I just managed to fake a smile and I stoop up. Out of the plane the three of us walked.

We went into a yellow taxi and were dropped off at our new home; Ron’s house. He opened the door and I saw two white kids who looked like they were my age. They looked a lot like Ron. One was a boy, he was exactly my height and he was muscular. The other was a girl, she had long straight blonde hair and the body of a model.

“Li…Li… Likumbi, meet your new brother and sister, Ken and Roxy. Ken and Roxy meet Li…Likumbi, your new brother and Thandiwe, your new mom. This is our new family,” Ron said with hand gestures.

“Hello,” Ken and Roxy said in surprise. It was written all over their faces.

Later at dinner there was an unusual type of silence. I had to get used to eating European food the European way.

“So what’s Africa like?” Roxy asked.

She broke the silence. When I heard the word, “Africa” my heart began beating faster with excitement, “Africa is awesome, and it’s a lovely place…” I said.

I began to explain Africa in detail, from its geography to its climate. I even cracked a few jokes and everyone seemed to laugh.

Tell us: What do you think of Ron’s attitude towards Africa?