Mom Hugs - 1. Mom Hugs

The boy with sapphire blue hair raised his arms and undulated his lean body in time with the dance music blaring from the float moving slowly next to him. His hair, haphazardly arranged in spiky waves, stood out against his dark attire. He wore a black tank top that hugged his torso and black skinny jeans that looked to be a size too big. Studded bracelets adorned both of his wrists, and his ears sported a plethora of earrings. A rainbow flag fluttered in the breeze over his canvas rucksack, worn around his neck as if he were a gay Superman.

He lowered his arms in the seconds in between songs and returned to walking. As he scanned the crowd, he made eye contact with a middle-aged, brown-haired woman holding a placard. She looked like a typical suburban housewife in her light pink blouse and tan slacks. Completely out of place among the drag queens and brightly-festooned Pride goers. She smiled at the boy and held her sign a little bit higher. He glanced at it, reading Free Mom Hugs written in large, rainbow-colored letters. He narrowed his eyes, then scowled and continued on his way as a drag queen in a red sequined gown enveloped the lady in a giant hug.

After the parade ended, the boy sat on one of the benches lining the sidewalk and watched the throng of people celebrating Pride disperse. Despite being in a crowd of thousands of people, he’d never felt more alone.

“May I sit here?”

He looked up to see the green eyes of the woman with the mom hugs placard he’d seen earlier. He shrugged and looked away.

“I’m Cathy,” she said, placing the sign in between them so it rested against the bench.

“Jason,” he replied.

“Nice to meet you, Jason.”

He briefly looked at her, then frowned and hung his head. “I don’t want a hug, and I don’t need a mom.”

Having raised two teenagers, Cathy was quite familiar with the defensive body position and sullen tone of the young man. She also recognized the profound sadness in his eyes, and it broke her heart.

“If you don’t want a hug, then you won’t get one. But I do have something I’d like to give you.” She reached into her pocket and withdrew a business card.

Jason raised an eyebrow. “What’s this?”

She held it out to him and he tentatively took it. The logo was a house with a rainbow over it. It had an address and Nathan’s House – A shelter for LGBTQ youth, written on it. He stared at it, wondering how she knew.

“You have the same look my Nathan had when we kicked him out,” she said softly.

“You kicked your son out?” He stared at her, wide-eyed. “Then what the hell are you doing here?”

“I learned too late that love is love. I made a mistake and paid a terrible price,” she replied, wiping her eyes. “Well, Nate paid the price, not me, but I have to live with the consequences and guilt every day.”

“Nate… as in Nathan’s House?”

She nodded. “No one should have to go through what my son did. He died on the streets—heroin overdose. I founded Nathan’s House as his legacy.”

“I’m sorry. But what does this have to do with me?”

“You can take or leave the information as you will, but I hope you take it. You don’t have to stay on the streets.”

She gathered her purse and sign and started to stand.

“I’ve never had a mom,” Jason said quietly. “Well, not a real one anyway. I had tons of foster moms. Yesterday was my eighteenth birthday, so….”

“You aged out of the system with nowhere to go.”

He nodded, shoulders drooping.

“Well, I happen to know there’s a vacancy at Nathan’s House. We don’t just provide room and board; we can also set you up with job programs and services to help you get on your feet.”

Jason narrowed his eyes, trying to hide the faint stirring of hope in his heart. “What’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch.”

“How much is this going to cost?”

“No charge, as long as you make active use of our training and job programs.”

“So, there is a catch, then,” he replied, smirking.

Cathy laughed. “Well, you got me there. I suppose there is!” She looked at him and smiled. “Is it a catch you can live with?”

Jason stared at the ground for a minute, remembering the cold, damp spot under the freeway overpass where he’d spent the previous night. He shivered, despite the warm evening. Did he really want to sleep there again?

“What do I have to do?” he asked.

“Come with me.” She stood and held out her hand.

Jason looked at the street, then at the woman in front of him. He wasn’t ignorant of what living on the streets did to people. He didn’t want to end up like Nate. He placed his trembling hand in hers. “Okay, but no hugs.”

Cathy laughed. “Deal.”

As they walked down the street, Jason repeated, “I’ve never had a real mom.”

She bumped his shoulder with hers and smiled. “Well, you have one now, whether you like it or not.”

“I’m not calling you ‘Mom’.”

“Cathy will do just fine.”