Danehy

Devonte Malcolm was on time for his first class of the day at Buena
High School in Sierra Vista a couple of weeks back. His classmates
normally wouldn’t have thought anything of it. Devonte was always in
class and always on time; someone had convinced him of the veracity of
that old saying that 90 percent of success in life is just showing up.
He was proud of his perfect attendance.

His mom would have been proud, too, except she had been killed the
night before.

Cynthia Jones was on her way home that night from her second of two
jobs, that of a cook at Buffalo Wild Wings. She didn’t own a car, so
she was walking home. She stopped at Fry’s to pick up a few things. To
get to the Cloud Nine trailer park where she and Devonte lived, she
would have to cross Highway 90, which has always been the main drag in
Sierra Vista. In town, it’s called Fry Boulevard. (People in Cochise
County used to refer to it as French Fry Boulevard, because it appeared
to be a three-mile stretch zoned only for fast-food places.)

Jones was crossing just east of the big intersection with Highway
92, near where 90 starts leading east out of town. It was later in the
evening, and while it was well past rush hour, traffic on that stretch
of road never dies down completely.

The authorities aren’t quite sure what happened. Maybe she was tired
from working the two jobs and didn’t see the vehicle or misjudged its
approaching speed. (The driver remained at the scene and wasn’t cited.)
Maybe she was struggling to carry the groceries she had bought. Maybe
she tripped, or maybe it was just 50-year-old legs.

Whatever the case, she was taken to the Sierra Vista Regional Health
Center, where she was pronounced dead. The police knocked on Devonte’s
door later that night and told him what had happened. He said he lost
it for a brief time, retreating to his room to cry, and then calmed
down. He knew what he had to do, and so, after the worst night of his
life, he got up the next morning and went to school. He said he knows
that his mom would have wanted him to.

As a sophomore last year, Devonte was part of the best boys’
basketball team in Buena High School history as the Colts reached the
5A-I (big school) state tournament final four for the first time. His
coach, Dave Glasgow, is effusive in his praise.

“He’s a great kid,” said Glasgow. “Real quiet, polite, a hard
worker. You could always tell how close he was to his mother. And she
really stressed the important things, (including) perfect
attendance.”

Devonte hasn’t missed a day of school and missed only one day of
basketball practice. This year, he’s expected to be one of the best
players in Southern Arizona. Glasgow thinks it’s probably best for the
kid to be around his classmates and teammates. “He’s trying to stay
busy and be around people,” he said. “It’s really sad, but in a way,
we’re the only family he’s got now.”

He and his mom had moved to the Army-base town from Richmond,
Calif., the rough lower-middle-class town that was the setting for the
based-in-fact basketball movie Coach Carter, which starred
Samuel L. Jackson in the title role. Devonte had been getting in
trouble in Richmond, and his single mom could see where he was
heading.

Basketball eased his potentially problematic transition to life in
the desert. When he and his mom first arrived in Sierra Vista, they
moved into a place not far from the high school. Across the street
lived a girl named Keyondra White. She’s a year younger than he, but
they’re in the same grade, and they both love basketball. (Keyondra was
an all-conference player last year for Buena.) They set up hoops on the
sidewalks in front of their respective places so they could play
full-court across the street. They’ve been best friends for years. He’s
currently staying with Keyondra’s family, but it’s probably not going
to be a permanent thing.

“We’re working on it,” said Glasgow. “He’s still a minor, so he’s
not going to be on his own. Several of his teammates’ families offered
to take him in, but it’s all up in the air right now.”

I asked Devonte about his father, and he just shrugged and said,
“He’s in California.” When asked where in California, he replied, “I
don’t know. Somewhere in California.”

Glasgow is in the process of setting up a permanent fund for
Devonte. If anybody would like to help, they can send a check to
Devonte Malcolm in care of Dave Glasgow at Buena High School, 5225 E.
Buena School Blvd., Sierra Vista, AZ 85635.

At press time, his mother still hadn’t been laid to rest due to
difficulties gathering family members from different parts of the
country. But he continues to show up at school and practice every day.
His classmates and teachers are amazed at how strong he has been
through this whole thing.

“My mom gave me the focus,” he said. “Keeping the focus keeps her
with me.”

This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.