Yorkistgirl - Thank you!
RichardIII1955 - Thanks as well! Especially for all your help.
So the story has begun! Here is the next chapter, and it's from Rick's point of view. First of all, I'd just like to say that I don't know very much about scoliosis. I've googled it, picked up some leaflets about it in the chemists, but it all seems to have contradictory messages. Some of it says 'Oh yeah, you can still live a normal life' and another is like 'it's completely dehabitilating' What I have managed to find is that every person is a unique case, and that in adults, there is little treatment available other than surgery, which is usually used as a last resort in extreme cases, and pain management. The NHS says that some people wear a brace to correct their posture, so I have included that.
When Rick opened his eyes the following morning, he groaned in pain. His whole back felt stiff and even more out of place than usual. It took him ages to limp upright, hobble over to his wardrobe, and grab his brace. He shrugged it on. He then realised he should have taken his painkillers first, but he knew it would take him an even longer and more painful journey to the kitchen and back.
After the painkillers had blurred the pain in his back, Rick bent over to tidy the bedclothes. They were tussled and twisted. He must have been writhing around all night. He pulled out the hot water bottle from under the duvet and emptied it. He slept with one on his back to soothe it when he didn't want painkillers. If he took too many, then he might develop a tolerance for it and need to increase his dosage. And if he continued to do that, he could become addicted. Rick didn't want to become addicted.
He'd had just sat down at his desk in the living room when the phone went. He let it ring, knowing who it was. When it went to voicemail, his fears had been correct.
"Hey, Rick, I know this is cheeky of me, but could you possibly pick the boys up from school today? Bethany's in London, and I've got a meeting. If you could just pick them up, give them tea, and then I'll come and get them sometime after six. Ring me back soon, thanks"
"No, Ed, I will not pick up your kids because you can't be bothered to spend money on a babysitter. I have an article on Richard III that I need to start, and there is pain radiating down to my kneecaps. Why don't you send them to afterschool club?" snapped Rick aloud, to no one in particular. He was always looking after his nephews. His brother, Ed, to his family and friends, was a career man, and his wife, Bethany, was a career woman. Rick often wondered why they even bothered having children, since they never had any time for any of them. Their eldest daughter, Eliza, was fourteen, and probably old enough to look after the boys, who were aged nine and seven. But it was always Rick who had too, since he worked from home as a freelance journalist. Sometimes Rick thought that his brother thought that meant he didn't do anything. He tried to explain that working from home was like having homework, and that he had to work, just at home, but Ed remained delusional.
With a sigh, he logged onto his computer to start work. Perhaps today he could plan a draft of his article, and then it would be a simple matter of filling in the details. Before long it would be done, and then he could move onto the next article. Hopefully it would be slightly easier and on a topic he was knowledgable in.
He navigated his way to his browser history, and found the website where he had posted his question. He'd been browsing the previous day whilst his nephews hung coat hangers from the light bulbs, and a found a site full of die-hard fans of Richard III. With any luck, the woman who had replied had posted some more information.
He skimmed through his first reply that he had sent before he'd gone to bed, so that her answer would make a little more sense.
'Thank you ever so much, I really appreciate it. I'm sorry to hear you lost your job, you seem to really know your stuff! The magazine asked me for a brief biography, and to set up a debate between whether he was good or bad. But I had no idea he had a wife! I suppose their relationship will be interesting if I'm going to be debating between whether he was good or bad. Did he love her? Did they have any children? Thanks so much for all the books and website links. I better get to work!'
She had replied. Rick read it through.
'I'm so pleased I could help. I don't really have a lot to do at the moment, so it's a pleasure. I'm sure I'll get another one soon. Richard actually loved his wife very much, although some people claim he poisoned her so he could marry his niece. I think this is unlikely. Their son (they did have children, but just the one) died about a year before Anne's death, and they say she never recovered. After Anne's death, Richard cried at her funeral and shut himself away for three days. He died five months later at the Battle of Bosworth. I suppose it's a comfort to us Richardians that at least they weren't separate for long, although no one knows what happened to his body after he was killed, so they couldn't have been buried together. I wish they had. It was the story of their love that inspired me to discover Richard's life in the first place'
"He loved her? And she loved him? I thought he was evil" Rick mused aloud "How could someone love anyone evil? Or was he even that evil?"
Suddenly, Rick felt a desire to find out more. He printed off the list of books that the woman had sent him, and then pulled a coat on over his brace. He collected his wallet and keys and headed out into the street. He passed one of his eccentric neighbours wearing some weird outfit and headed straight for the library. Rick liked to read books before he bought them. If it was a bad book, he could take it back and never see it again. If it was good, then he'd buy it and reread it for as much as he wanted, without annoying reminder notices appearing.
Gloucester library was silent, and Rick soon had a pile of books. He sat at a table, and began to sort through which ones looked the most promising. He was halfway through The Sunne In Splendour when his phone vibrated loudly. Some people on a nearby table looked at him, annoyed. Rick grabbed the phone. He wanted to take it outside, but he didn't want to leave the books. He answered it, simply to make it silent rather than a desire to talk to whoever it was.
"Hello?" he whispered.
"Rick! About time too" grumbled Ed.
"Hi Ed" he said dully.
"Where have you been?"
"Well, I'm actually in a library right now"
"I thought you worked from home?"
"I do work from home, but I need to find some stuff to work with" retorted Rick. The people on the other table glared at him, so he lowered his voice "Now is really not a good time, Ed"
"Can you at least let me know if you are going to pick up the boys this afternoon?"
Rick sighed "Ed, I am busy. I have all these books to read, and this article to draft, and my back is giving me hell. I'm having to wear that awful brace to walk straight. I've taken the strongest painkillers I have and it hasn't done the trick. Can't Eliza babysit?"
"Eliza has her own school work to do! She can't look after them on her own!"
"And I haven't got work?" Rick cried "Fine. I'll pick them up. But I've got no food in, and they'll be miserable. Can't they go to afterschool club? There are kids their own age there, and teachers who are better at dealing with kids than I am"
"I don't want to send them to afterschool club, it's full of bad influences. You know what I mean. Kids who practically minature Henry Taylors. I don't like the way he's been sniffing around my Eliza..."
"Fine!" Rick snapped. He quickly lowered his voice "I'll get them. But if they hang coat hangers off the light bulbs again, then you have to pay my electric bill this month. Understand?"
"Yeah. Thanks Rick, you know I appreciate it"
"Well, you've got a funny way of showing it" Rick put the phone down. The whole library was staring, so he grabbed the books and took them to check them out. After he did so, he realised what a dumb thing that was to do. He had to carry them all. Plus, he'd need to buy meals for the kids, and then plenty of sweets and chocolate so that he could bribe them to be good. Why hadn't he taken the car?
When it was three 'o' clock, Rick reluctantly stood outside of Gloucester Primary School. Children barged past and slammed into him. Each time they jarred against him, a spasm of pain throbbed through his spine. Today was not a good day.
Nathan, the eldest, was nine, and in year five. He strolled out the gates first with his friends. Upon catching sight of Rick, he scowled miserably. Rick scowled back as he shuffled over to him. Daniel, the youngest, was seven, and in his first year of primary school. He rushed out the gates with his friends, energetically, and then his shoulders drooped as he caught sight of Rick. His eyes lit up at the sight of Nathan, and he rushed over to hug his brother.
"Don't hug me, Dan" snapped Nathan.
"I just wanted to say hello" protested Daniel.
"Come on, let's get out of here. These screeching kids are driving me nuts" complained Rick.
"I don't want to go to your house. It's boring" complained Nathan.
"Tell your dad to get a babysitter then" snapped Rick "Or go to afterschool club"
"I want to go to afterschool club!" cried Daniel "My best friend does and he has loads of fun. Your house is boring"
"Well, when I bought my flat, I didn't plan on making it a crèche for kiddies"
"I'm not a kid" argued Nathan.
"You're nine"
"And? I'm going to secondary school the year after next" retorted Nathan.
"Still a kid" shrugged Rick "Come on. I've got loads of work to do. You two had better be quiet when we get there"
"Can I play on the computer?" asked Daniel.
"No, because I'm working on it" Rick tried to hurry off, but had to slow down to pacify his back. He was due another painkiller. What he really wanted was to soak in a hot bath and then lay on his bed. But these little devils would never let him do that.
"Get on with your homework" said Rick firmly, sitting down at his desk.
"Who are you talking to do?" asked Nathan, peering over his shoulder.
"No one, I'm working" Rick shielded the computer screen with his shoulder, as he tried to read.
'Even if Richard did murder his nephews, you must remember the times they were living in. It was brutal. If there was a child on the throne, people would take that chance to rebel. Especially as the Wars of Roses was still raging on. If Richard hadn't taken action, then the Lancasters would definitely have caused trouble. Richard, a grown man who had fought battles and proved himself capable, would definitely be a stronger king than a child. But that's only if he did. Some say that it was Henry Tudor. He definitely had more of a motive to do so, in my opinion. Richard was devoted to his brother, that's why he was named Lord Protector. And it wasn't even Richard who declared them illegitimate. Richard was asked to become king, he didn't make himself king. If it was Henry Tudor who murdered them, then it secured his claim to the throne after Richard was killed, and made him appear the better king so that fewer peasants would support a Yorkist revolt'
"Please can we play on the computer?" pestered Daniel.
"No" barked Rick, as he thought to himself, 'At this point, I don't blame Richard for killing his nephews, especially not if they were as annoying as this!'
"I'm hungry!" whined Nathan.
"No, you're not" Rick retorted "You've had your lunch. You'll have dinner in an hour"
"I'm hungry too! And I didn't eat all my lunch" Daniel whinged.
"Well, more fool you"
"What does that even mean?"
Rick sighed "Right, I'm going to toilet. Leave that computer alone, or else I'll make Aiden from downstairs come up and babysit you"
"No! He's weird!" the two boys cried. Rick disappeared into his bathroom, leaving the two boys in the living room. He heard some giggling, and that was it. When he emerged, the two were sitting quietly on the sofa, watching some dumb cartoons. They seemed a bit too quiet to be acting normal. Rick sat down at his computer again. Daniel giggled. Rick raised an eyebrow, and logged onto Facebook. There was an email from Henry Taylor, the local trouble-maker.
'DONT U FUCKIN RITE DAT SHIT ON MA WALL, U HUNCHBACK FUCKIN FREAK'
Confusion and hurt battled to be the strongest of Rick's emotions. In spite of this internal struggle, it took Rick a few moments to figure out what the boys had done. Daniel and Nathan burst out laughing.
'Henry Taylor, I love you and I think you're beautiful!' read the message in Rick's name that he hadn't sent.
"You devils!" roared Rick.
