In this feature, Club Founder and Training Officer John Hawkins introduces you to people you see every day, but you might not know who they are. The Club reminds you that we all have names and our stories to tell.
Meet Malcolm Ashley
and his girlfriend Sarah Espiritu
By John Hawkins
Club Founder and Club Education and Training Officer
Malcom was born June 27, 1981 in Hollywood, Florida.
Favorite candy: Nerds Gummy Clusters
Favorite movie: Rambo: First Blood
Favorite book: “I love reading — James Patterson, David Baldacci … and one of my favorites is Sandra Brown.”
“I lived in Florida for 25 years and then moved to Massachusetts, then North Carolina, and then back to Boston and back to Florida. I came to California after being let out of prison in Florida. I got caught with a pistol and manufacturing methamphetamine. They gave me $50 and said they would give me a bus ticket to anywhere in the United States but not Florida … no halfway houses, no rehab, nothing. I told them to give me the most expensive bus ticket they got. They said, ‘Well that’s going to be Los Angeles,’ so I said, well, that’s where I am going. I went straight from my prison rack to right here.”
I asked him about his tattoos and what the latest one was. He pointed to the right side of his face and showed me his “Benjamin” tattoo, which was in honor of his brother. “I have two brothers, all older, and two sisters. I was at the very bottom, the youngest. I have a brother in Massachusetts and a sister in South Carolina; they are kind of all over the place. I even have a sister in Canada.
“It’s a long story but my mom put my oldest sister up for adoption when she was born; it was my mom’s first child and she was really young, and my dad he was a really good talker; I guess; he talked her into giving her up for adoption. Anyhow, she works with horses up in Canada. My whole family was into horses. My grandfather was a horse jockey, and my dad was a horse jockey. I was the biggest in the family, if that tells you anything.
“I had a nice little place goin’ on in Florida, with five kids.” I asked Malcom what happened, what path got him to where he’s at today. “Well, I was working. I had my own landscaping business, but the bills got too much, and then I started using meth and then making it.”
I asked him if he felt meth is the worst drug out there, and he said, “Yes, especially long term, what it does to the mind: You stay up late, you see something over there and in your mind you are really seeing it, and you have that thing in your head, but you know you didn’t really see it. You know it really wasn’t there, so for the psychological part I would have to say meth is the worst. As far as expenses and affordability meth, is the easiest. It’s cheap.”
What advice would you give a 16-year-old kid? “Find out what you want to do in life and do it.”
I asked Malcolm what he wanted to do when he was 16 and he said, “I wanted to join the Army.”
I asked Malcom what he would want if he was granted three wishes, and he said, “One, take all mental illnesses off the planet. Two, take away all the drugs. And three, take away all the violence.” I told him that he didn’t wish for anything for himself, and he said, “Yeah, I did.” I thought about it for a second and had to keep my composure; it was one of the most beautiful and powerful statements I have heard from a homeless person.
I’ll be honest – in the beginning I was a bit intimidated by Malcolm, a bit worried. But, as the conversation progressed I realized he had a big heart, as did his girlfriend, Sarah, and when he gave his three wishes I wanted to just give him a hug and hope.
John Hawkins wished Malcolm well and provided support.
The interview was conducted by Club Founder John Hawkins on May 16, 2024 on Emerald Street off Second Street. The contents described here were transcribed from a video recording.
In this feature, Club Founder and Training Officer John Hawkins introduces you to people you see every day, but you might not know who they are. The Club reminds you that we all have names and our stories to tell.
