Charlie wasn't born into poverty or riches, just a normal 'family'. The only child of loving but somewhat indifferent parents. Maybe it was genetics, maybe it was something in his living environment or maybe these things are just the luck of the draw, Whatever it was, from an early age it was obvious that he was to grow to be a natural police, he was born a natural asshole.

He joined the Baltimore Police Department at the age of 18 and from there he worked his way through the uniformed patrol division. It was here that he met his life time love, sometime foe and ultimately.. wife, Alice- sister to his best friend.

Things went for him in a way that almost every other cop on the Baltimore force would be happy with, or would just live with. Rising to grade of Detective in the Homicide division his life became a round of clearances to help the brass with their stats. A loveless, thankless, feckless task that drove this high functioning asshole into messing in places he shouldn't,

That fateful night, when he found his wife OD'ing at home, her habit, he saw, the fault of her brother and his friend. In murderous rage Charlie shot him, thee times- dead. It changed everything, his wife, his life at work, even himself. He was a sanctimonious prick at times, never seeming to realize it wasn't enough simply to be right.

Some years passed, it nearly happened again, history repeating itself, his wife's other brother, the younger one, came to his professional attention. The young kid following in his dead brothers footsteps. Not as smart or street as the rest of them the kid had already ended up center of an investigation.

That sanctimonious prick reared it's ugly head. Charlie interfered with the investigation, it wasn't fair, he thought, that this kid, his brother-in-law should take the heat for what others had done, he was mere pawn. His wife, she deserved this, her elder brother dead, her younger wouldn't go to prison. It worked, in the end, he derailed the investigation enough to see the kid go free.

His Major and the Deputy gave him a choice, he couldn't face criminal charges, it would look too bad on an already fucked up department- but he wasn't ever going to be a 'real police' anywhere normal again. He could work the boats or find somewhere new.

There was only one place worse than Baltimore, Hathian, Louisiana, if he and his wife were to build the life they wanted to live again it would have to be there, and so he applies for the local police department.

Gratuitous reference to and use of The Wire went into penning this.