Читать книгу Nakkita - Udo Meeßen - Страница 5

Tanja's beloved Nakky

May 11, 2047, 2:25 p.m., Porta Westfalica / Minden-Lübbecke: Coming from the south-west, Hans Burgmeister drove his heavy SUV much too fast along Mindener Straße, turned left into Postillionweg with squealing tires, lost control of his car for a moment and rammed the rear of a car parked there at the height of house number 2.

The car he rammed was a sleek Opel Nakkita GTC coupe, which was very popular with young women, and it stood out for its unusual paint job, because it was painted in turquoise with a mother-of-pearl effect.

"Shit!"

Burgmeister thought for a moment about just driving on, then he thought that for sure some resident could have heard the bang. If he then knew the owner of the Nakkita and informed him, it could get loud, because on the black rear window of the car was stuck in yellow writing a clear warning:

Keep your distance!

You dent my Nakky,

I'll dent your face!

The car was undoubtedly tuned, with expensive aluminum rims, a large rear spoiler, widened fenders, and its appearance suited a hot-headed, youthful car nut who went on the prowl in the bars and clubs on the weekends. Such people had the reputation to strike first and Burgmeister did not want to let it come to that.

Especially because he had already experienced this. A few years earlier, he had also driven into a densely populated residential area at far too high a speed because, after all, time was money. He had to go to the settlements because he sold biometric locking systems for houses and apartments to private individuals, and he was constantly under time pressure because he was only moderately successful, so the masses had to bring it.

No sooner had there been a clatter than a front door flew open and the next moment a well-trained guy in his early twenties dragged him out of the car. He struck first, gave Burgmeister a few hard punches and rearranged his face. Burgmeister was sure that the guy would have beaten him to death if the police, called by a neighbor, had not intervened.

So he thought that it would be better to get ahead of the presumed witness and called the police to have the accident properly recorded. In the presence of the police officers, the injured party would also keep himself in check and not bang him on the ear.

Disgruntled, he turned off the engine of his car, got out and looked at the mess, taking photos with his smartphone for the insurance company. The front right fender of his car was dented and the right headlight had disintegrated into its component parts. The Nakkita, meanwhile, was badly damaged. The rear apron had been torn off and - because the plastic had been around for a few years and the plasticizer had disappeared from it - had shattered into numerous pieces. In addition, the left fender was crushed, the widening was lying on the asphalt and the 17-inch rim showed a fresh, wide crack. But that wasn't enough… the taillight was equally destroyed and a large crack showed in the rear window.

'Tank versus soapbox,' Burgmeister thought, trying to assess the damage as a patrol car turned into the street and slowly approached.

"Good afternoon," the driver of the patrol car addressed him, "dumb luck, huh? What happened?"

"I came from Mindener Street, had to sneeze and lost control for a moment," Burgmeister replied, making a helpless gesture to ekm/hasize his innocence.

"Aha. Then may I ask for your driver's license, vehicle registration and insurance card."

Meanwhile, the policeman's colleague, Roswitha Schleimer, looked at the scene of the accident, took photos for the accident report and determined the owner of the Nakkita by means of the license plate number by means of a short phone call.

While Police Chief Wulfrad was busy with the paperwork, making an accident sketch and taking Burgmeister's particulars, Schleimer looked around briefly and then went to house number 4.

"Good day. Schleimer from the police. Is Ms. Tanja Sorg in the house?" she asked the graying woman in her mid-fifties who opened the door.

"Tanja? Has she done something wrong? Just a moment, please. Tanja is working the night shift and sleeping."

"Thank you. And she didn't do anything wrong. But her car was damaged."

"What?! My Nakky is broken?" exclaimed a brunette, petite woman in her mid-thirties, who at that moment came out of one of the rooms because the ringing of the doorbell had woken her up.

"You are Tanja Sorg?"

"Yes, that's me. What happened?"

"I think you'd better put some clothes on and come out to your car, please."

"Oh, yes," Tanja said, looking down at herself. She was wearing only a playful negligee made of semi-transparent fabric in turquoise and matching panties. All in all, she was very appetizing in Schleimer's eyes and the latter could imagine more pleasant things than having to confront the cute thing with her damaged car.

-*-

"What, because of that little doll…" escaped Burgmeister with a snort and then he swallowed the rest of what was on his tongue.

"Excuse me?" asked Wulfrad.

"Nothing. I was just thinking out loud."

"Ah. O.k. As it is, Mr. Burgmeister, you were driving too fast. If you had kept to the prescribed 30 km/h, you wouldn't have totaled that car, and you'll be hearing from us in that regard."

"Total loss? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well. At a conservative estimate, the repairs will cost around 3,000 euros. But according to the registration, the Nakkita is already 14 years old and its current value is correspondingly low. For the insurance company, this is a total economic loss and, in your case, serious damage to property."

"Damage to property? That was an accident. I had to sneeze."

"Sure. If you don't mind, I'll just read out the geotracking on your car. You don't mind, do you? I mean… Do I have to confiscate your car for evidence, or will you cooperate?"

Burgmeister realized that the policeman had him on the hook and that the whole affair would have repercussions, because the system of his car naturally logged every meter of his way, including speed information, and they would pull a fast one on him. Therefore, he decided to cooperate and not give the policeman any more reason to kick his butt.

"What have you done?!" Tanja drove at him with tears in her eyes, "My Nakky, you broke my Nakky! Why? Were you going too fast, or are you drunk?"

"Your Nakky? Old pimped-out car, more like," Burgmeister murmured absolutely not empathetic to the woman's feelings.

"My beautiful Nakky," Tanja kept saying and tears rolled down her cheeks. At that moment, Schleimer would have loved to take her in her arms to comfort her and love her, she felt so sorry for the little doll.

"As sorry as I am, Mrs. Sorg… I'm afraid this is a total loss."

"Fourteen years… fourteen years and never so much as a scratch and now… broken," Tanja's voice broke and she began to cry heartbreakingly, so Schleimer took her by the hand and led her back into the house.

"Will you please take care of your daughter? She's not really well right now."

"Is it that bad? She loves her car."

"Unfortunately, yes, Mrs. Sorg. As it stands, it's a total loss and the insurance company will only reimburse the current value."

-*-

Wulfrad had finally let Burgmeister drive. He had previously read out the SUV's system, filled out an accident report, had Burgmeister sign it, urged him to inform his insurance company of the damage in his presence, and informed the man that he would file a criminal complaint.

The team was already back in the patrol car when Schleimer thought of something else and she opened the door again.

"I have to see Mrs. Sorg for a moment. Smoke a cigarette and drink your coffee. It will take a moment," she said and went back to the house.

"I just thought of something, Mrs. Sorg."

"What?" asked Tanja, who looked terribly tormented with teary eyes and apparently could hardly calm down.

"In Flurweg in Barkhausen is a car repair shop which is specialized in Opel. The owner is also a passionate Nakkita driver and I'm sure she will give you a good price."

"You mean for the repair? I thought you said it was a total loss."

"Sure. Economically… You know, the insurance company will reimburse you for the current value of the car, probably 2,000 euros at the most, and by law the car then belongs to them. But the insurance companies usually don't insist on repossessing the car in this price range, because they would have to scrap it expensively. So you can use the money to have the damage repaired and can continue to drive your Nakky."

"Uh-huh, and why would this woman give me a good price?"

"Because she is a good friend and has a big heart for girls. Here, take this business card. I wrote a greeting for her on the back."