down thinking about how he was
literally at the crossroads where
his father’s life went downhill and
the lengths his mother had to go
to in order to shield him from see-
ing that lifestyle.
“At any given time, I could have
been like I want to see my dad, I’m
going to just hop on the bus and
go see him,” said Charnick. “But
my mother cultivated this environ-
ment where she didn’t want me
exposed to that. So, at the time of
actually being in the place where
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 58
my father went down the road for
the first time; the entirety of my
mother’s efforts and my grand-
mother’s and that side of the fam-
ily - the effort to keep me protect-
ed from that really struck home. I
could throw a rock and hit my old
building. It was that close. It was
a trippy experience.”
He says he always thought his
mother likely dabbled in drugs at
some point. She was dating his
father in 1970s New York City and
running in the same circles, which
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