“They make it my problem!” Lola yelled. “I can’t get away from them. How do they make me feel so bad…about everything? Everything in my life?”

She tried to squeeze her hand into the opening to get a shirt, but she obviously couldn’t reach. She grabbed the drawer on either side and pulled it hard.

“Damn it!” Lola mumbled. “Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

Each word increased in volume and brought a more fervent shake and pull. The entire front piece of the drawer came off in Lola’s hands, leaving the contents exposed. Lola dropped it in disgust, reached into the naked, half-extended shelf and yanked the first shirt from the stack. She sat on the end of her bed and looked at the hole she had just created. It was all too symbolic.

The Terrible Secret Of Spencer

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ACT III

NEW YORK MOURNS SONNY

The New York Bulletin

Last night, television history was made when Detective Sonny Lavinski (played by Donald Purchase) was shot dead on the season premiere of police drama Crime and Punishment. Lavinski’s death came as a major surprise to millions of viewers who had tuned in for the start of Lavinski’s 16th season. What began as a fairly ordinary case involving the murder of an NYU student ended with a shooting at the foot of the courthouse steps, with Lavinski dying in the arms of his partner, Mike Benzo.

Reaction across the city, the country, and the Internet was immediate. News of Lavinski’s murder trumped coverage of real-life murders, instantly becoming one of the top news stories. The headline rippled across news tickers around Manhattan, causing crowds of people in Times Square to stop and point. The Crime and Punishment online fan site, which boasts more than two hundred thousand members, immediately crashed.

Sources from the set report that Lavinski’s departure was long in planning, and that much work had gone into keeping the story line under wraps.

“It was just time,” said one staff writer who asked to go unnamed. “Donald’s been great to work with. We were all crushed when he said he had to go. He didn’t want it dragged out. He said that would hurt the fans who were really attached to his character. He wanted it to be quick. So that’s how we wrote it.”

Lavinski’s killer, David Frieze, is played by cast newcomer Spencer Martin, 19.

“Yeah,” another on-set source confirmed, “that story line is going to be a big part of this season. David Frieze is the new baddie on the street.”

Over five hundred dedicated fans had an impromptu candlelight vigil on the steps of the New York Supreme Court, where the death scene was shot.

“I can’t stop crying,” said Felicia Wills of Brooklyn, as she placed a bouquet of flowers on the steps where Lavinski fell. “It’s never going to be the same without Sonny.”