Midnight Parking in Olmos Park

Chapter 8: Jase

"Pop, can you please just take your pills?" I ask for the hundredth time.

It's more common for him to put up a fight about taking his pain medication after having dinner. He does this every night, so I had to start crushing his pills into his food so he wouldn't notice.

I was getting ready to head into the shop, so it slipped my mind to do so.

"No, Jase. I feel fine," He crosses his arms, sitting back in his recliner.

"It doesn't matter if you feel fine, you're still required to take them," I argue.

There was a knock at the door, so I told him I'll be right back.

"Yeah, get the door," He waved me off with his hand.

I looked through the peephole and saw that it was Hillary. I opened the door and noticed she had brought over a pie. "Hi sweetheart, is August still awake?"

"Yes, come in," I move aside to let her pass. "He's refusing to take his meds right now. Do you think you can help me?"

"Here," She handed me the pie. "Where are his meds?"

"The bottle is on the coffee table," I say.

Pop was happy to see Hillary again, and invited her to sit and watch the evening news with him. "Go into the kitchen and cut him a piece, while I take care of his pill situation, okay?"

I did what she said, without hesitation. I love Pop, but he's been a real handful ever since he was discharged from the hospital.

However, he's the only person I'd do this for.

Never once did he complain about raising me when I had no one to, so I'm going to return the favor.

The cherry pie Hillary brought over was too tempting not to steal a piece for me before I left for work.

But, I promised myself I wouldn't eat junk food while I'm on vacation. I'm even gonna ask Hillary if she could stay for a few hours so I can go to the gym right after closing up.

After I put Pop's slice on a paper plate, I grabbed him a fork and headed back into the living room.

"What would grace, say?" I stop before turning the corner. "She'd want me to make sure you were taking care of yourself. That's why I never care to forget to come over when it's convenient for you."

"Grace may have passed away, but I swear her ghost is sitting right in front of me," Pop says, inducing me to chuckle to myself.

"Very funny, August," She holds out her hand, waiting for him to take the two pills in the middle of her palm. "I know these meds can be a real pain in the ass, but Grace would have wanted you to take them so you could feel better."

He sighs before pinching the pills between the tips of his fingers and tossing them into his mouth. Hillary handed him his glass of water so he could swallow, and he did without a fight.

My grandmother may be gone, and there's no changing that.

But, having Hillary around is close enough, and I'll always appreciate her.

Work was quiet tonight. I sent Jackson home early since we weren't that busy. He offered to stay to keep me company, but I could use the time to be alone for a few hours. 

Most of my time consists of taking care of my pops whenever Hillary isn't around to help, then coming to the shop to unload boxes with Jackson, or helping some random girl, who's just there to talk to me. 

Not many fishers are out tonight since it's Saturday, so the store's quiet anyway. 

I'm kind of in charge of this place, so I can do whatever I want. 

And I do just that.

I turned off a few of the lights, so it wouldn't be so bright in here. I kept the ones above the register on just in case I needed to ring up a customer. 

I'm sitting at the counter, catching up on next week's paperwork when the tiny bell above the door rang. 

"Miss me?" Berevice smirks. 

I dropped my pen on the counter, deeply sighing. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk," She says. "When can we have a conversation about everything that's happened?" 

"We already did, which was over a year ago," I shrug. 

"I mean, when can we have a conversation about rekindling what we used to have?" She leaned her back against the door.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" She furrows her eyebrows. 

"You cheated on me, and now you keep coming back as if we're going to get back together tomorrow. Why are you doing this?" I repeat myself. 

"Come on, Jase, it was a mistake. You know Corey didn't mean anything to me, we were both just drunk. I'm sure if I wasn't intoxicated, then I wouldn't have kissed him," Berevice groans as if I was the one who cheated on her. 

Was anything she said supposed to make me feel better? 

She cheated, I didn't, end of discussion. 

"I don't want this to keep happening this summer, Berevice. I'm over it and have been for months now," I say as I walk around the counter, ready to face her so she can read my lips for what I'm about to say next. "We're done. It's been over a year, and it's time you move on the way I have. We're not in high school anymore, and I refuse to let you ruin my summer."

I know this is the second time I've seen her, but it's not just the in-person confrontations I'm talking about. It's the late-night texts from her, the unwanted nudes she sends me after partying all night, and the hundreds of phone calls she makes from her friend's phones after I blocked her number. 

Not to mention how she blames me for our breaking up because her "cheating incident" could've been resolved if I forgave her, and leave it in the past. 

But, she was wrong. I was able to forgive her and leave it in the past, I just wasn't willing to commit to a narcissist anymore.

I wanted to commit to something that was worth it, and that's my future. 

I'm finished with Berevice and her selfish ways, and I hope she can just leave me alone for good.

It's getting out of hand, and I'm done. I've been done for a long time, but now that nobody else is around for me to say this to her, I have the advantage to tell her to take a hike. 

I open the front door for her, to make myself clear in my argument. "So, leave, and please don't come back," I say nonchalantly. 

The best part about being right in a situation is the capability of not having to raise my voice to look like an asshole, because Berevice is only making herself look like one.

Her face is smeard with disgust, "You were nothing without me, and this is how you treat me?"

Her words can't faze me anymore. All I do is keep a blank, serious look as she leaves the store. 

I lock the door behind her just incase she decided to turn around and cause a bigger problem. 

I'm smiling to myself because I never knew how great that was going to feel until it actually happened. 

Now that it has, I have nothing but hope that she'll be gone for good.