lefty
11-23-2013, 06:54 AM
From Erving's autobiography : There is something wrong about how I treat women. When I went on that run of eight women in eight days, it left me feeling like I had failed at something, was in some ways a disappointment to my mother. I don't want to see women as sex objects, though sometimes I fall into that behavior and pattern. It's not how my mother raised me, I know that, but it is pretty typical behavior for young men. And now that I'm not with Carol and I'm not betraying anyone, I can convince myself that this is all in good fun. I'm always discreet, and I don't talk to the other guys on the team very much about my nocturnal activities, but sometimes, the emptiness of the pursuit gets to me. I don't want to end up alone, cut off from my wife and children. I invite Turquoise to come visit me in Norfolk and stay over in the penthouse. She drives up from Winston-Salem, and by the time she arrives, I've got the mood going, a little champagne on ice, some fresh cut flowers, some chocolates, Marvin Gaye on Earl's quadraphonic sound system, the lights dimmed so that the nighttime harbor view of ships moving in and out of port and cars moving along the expressway is all shimmering yellows, reds, and greens against black sea and through a layer of soft fog. How can a young lady resist? I'm thinking. This is almost unfair. Then Turquoise arrives and she's with Cynthia. We're sitting on the sectional sofa in the sunken living room: Cynthia, Turquoise and me, and I'm thinking how I can make a move with her wing-woman right there… "You want to meet one of my friends?" I ask Cynthia. I call the rookie, George Gervin, and tell him I have a girl for him. "Who?" "Cynthia," I say. "Is she fine?" I look her over. "Um, yeah." She's a fine person, if that's what Gerv is asking. He says he'll come over to take her out. "She want to go to the movies?" "You like the movies?" I ask Cynthia. She looks at Turquoise. Turq nods. Gervin drives over and picks up Cynthia. I owe him, because he doesn't hesitate to help me out by getting Cynthia out of there, even though he quickly deduces that I haven't been totally frank about Cynthia's charms. But he takes one look at Turquoise and he knows why I'm so eager to get alone with her. Once they leave, I can get my mood going again, the music, the candles, and after a few more minutes of talking, Turquoise says she's going to slip into something more comfortable. Oh yeah, this Doctor can operate! I am so smooth— Then Turquoise comes back in wearing a two-piece flannel pajama suit that leaves everything to the imagination. She makes it clear to me, no matter how slick I think I'm being, that she isn't ready to get intimate with me. "This is our first night together, and I'm not some groupie," she says. So instead we talk almost the whole night through. She tells me she was married and has a son, a 7-month-old named Cheo. She and the father—a football player at Wake Forest—aren't together anymore. "I'm raising him on my own," she says. "He's with his grandparents tonight. But he's a big part of me, of who I am, and I want to be out front about that." As I'm listening to Turquoise, I feel the initial powerful connection becoming even stronger. She's a strong sister, feisty. She is no push over. She's serious about life. She has experience. And even though she is six months younger than I am, she has this maturity that I find almost comforting. And I am overwhelmed by her beauty. She tells me how she wants to go back to Wake Forest now that she's had the baby, to finish up her degree. I'm smitten, and that night, before we've even slept together, I know that this woman is something different from the women I've been experiencing. For one thing, despite her beauty, she has this amazing strength that makes me feel like she can handle anything, even me. I'm aware, at that point in my career, that I'm a handful. I have my habits, my desire for order, my problems with fidelity. Being with a pro athlete is not for the faint-hearted. There is no training or preparation for the excessive lifestyle. It's sort of like being with a rock star, in terms of a guy being on the road a lot facing temptation every night. A sister has to have a pretty strong ego and sense of her self to feel like she can regulate her man. And Turquoise is not intimidated or even particularly impressed by who I am. She' s just like, "I have a child, I am not interested in messing around anymore." I'm not thinking that Turquoise is the one, but I know that I want to spend more time with her than with anyone else. Later that night, after their movie, George comes back with Cynthia and drops her off without coming inside. "I'm not feelin' her, Doc," he whispers. :lmao Turquoise and Cynthia take one bedroom, and I take another.