Fanis the Bodyguard Episode 42 Hiding Out at Home

                Fanis is pouting and on edge as his cousin looks on amused.  As he curses at the TV and starts laranting to no one in particular, he stops to take a breath.  His cousin and employer Kera asks, “Are you done?”

                “No, I mean this is madness.  The whole world has gone to shit and I don’t know what to do with myself.”

                “This is unprecedented in our lifetimes but panic is not the answer.”

                “It’s not unprecedented.  Like six years ago or so there was an NBA lockout that shortened the season and the season didn’t start till Christmas Day.”

                “True, but did they cancel the entire season?”

                “No, the lockout happened in the off season so I did get to see who won the NBA championship”

                “Then it is unprecedented.  What about college?’

                “I haven’t missed a March Madness since like grade school.”

                “I know this is a very hard time for you.”  Kera’s tone was mocking

                “This virus only kills people over the age of 70.  NBA players are almost all under 35.  I mean I’m not worried and I’m older than almost all of them!”

                “The point is not to infect other people.  We don’t want America and Britain to be like Italy.  I mean they shut the country down.”

                “The average age of death in Italy is 81!”

                “They closed all public gatherings.”

                “Hysteria, complete and utter overreaction.”

                “They’re closing schools all over the world.”

                “What does that do?  It provides an undue burden on parents since they need to be home with their kids so they may not be able to work.  Causing that much undue harm isn’t worth the threat.  I can see for some localities hit hardest like New Rochelle, New York but worldwide?  No, that’s an overreaction.”

                “You may not be the most credible source considering you have a death wish.”

                “My death wish keeps you safe re”

                ‘Re’ is a derogatory way of saying ‘you’ in Greek, which is where Fanis and Kera descended from.  Even though they were born and raised in America, their parents made sure to keep the Greek tradition strong in them and they were both fluent in Greek.  She responded, “I am very appreciative of that, however, it may be a shot to your credibility on this one.”

                “In 2009, the big fear was H1N1 infection and they closed schools.  You want to know what happened?  Kids still got disease because they congregated at water parks and other places so it didn’t even stop the contagion.  It was fucking pointless!”

                “I don’t remember any virus shutting down entire cities.  I don’t even remember schools closing and 2009 was the year I graduated.  Are you trying to say this isn’t a threat?”

                “Of course it’s a threat but not a very big one.  It’s just like anything else.  If you’re sick, stay home.  It’s really that simple.”

                “I must admit that I’m glad you feel this way because we have to go.”

                “Really?  People are still buying Chinese artifacts?”

                Kera was an international Chinese art dealer, which is why she was based in London as it was more centrally located for her worldwide travel.  She replied, “Yes, China is infected not everything that was ever made in China.  I can’t go back to China to get artifacts but I have enough to last for a while.  We have a private plane so we don’t have to rely on airlines nor worry about contracting Corona”

                “I’m not worried.  I’m not 70!”

                “Fine, you won’t die but you don’t want it do you?!”

                “No, who the fuck wants to be really sick?”

                “There you go!” Kera was no long amused and she was yelling now. 

                Fanis quickly packed some things and they headed out toward the air strip.  As they boarded the plane, he asked, “So where are we going?”

                “Home”

                “Ellas?”  (Greek Word for Greece)

                “Yup”

                “Nice”

                “Yea, especially because I’m a little more worried than you are and I’m younger than you.”

                “Yea, it’s nice that we each have apartments there.”

                “Yes it is but we’re going to be staying in mine since I’m in a tiny village outside of Patra and you’re right in the center on the outskirt of Athens.”

                “Even without the Coronavirus I don’t like Athens so I’m good with that.”

                “Excellent.  Now, doesn’t it concern you a little that the government is saying not to get tested if you’re asymptomatic?”

                “No, people are freaking out and they only have limited resources.  If you’re getting tested then you’re taking away from someone who might actually be sick.  It’s more important that people showing symptoms get tested than people who aren’t and when everyone thinks one cough or sneeze equals Coronavirus, then you’re going to run out of resources.”

                “Yea, I did see in Politico that lab materials were in short supply.”

                “You just read the headline right?  Not the entire article.”

                “I didn’t have time.”

                “Pull up the article and read the end.”

                Kera does so and sees at the end a small paragraph saying that commercial labs have not experienced supply shortages.  She looks at her phone confused, “But wait that completely contradicts the whole article.”

                “They would say it doesn’t because non-commercial labs like one in some dude’s basement may be running out of supplies so they technically didn’t lie.  This is how fake news work.”

“I’m glad I didn’t read the whole article or else I would be pissed.”

“Yea, like you wasted your time but that’s what mainstream media does, they bury the real

information late in the piece to cover their asses and hope that reader like yourself lose interest and don’t get that far.”

  “Well, clearly that strategy works.”

“There are so many conflicting stories about Coronavirus.  I was reading in the Daily Mail that a

 Guy in China infected nine people.  The virus stayed in the air for 30 minutes and can stay on metallic services.  Unlike everywhere else, it did well on hot services.  Everyone says that face masks don’t work but China claims they do and the safe distance is six feet in the rest of the world but 4.5 meters, which is like 15 feet.  I don’t think anyone is ever 15 feet or more away from anyone in Beijing.”

                “There’s a reason that article contradicts everything you’ve heard.”

                “Communist Chinese lying about the threat.”

                “No, the article was retracted.”

                Fanis shook his head, “It’s so hard to find accurate information on this thing.”

                “There is huge pressure for answers but nobody really knows.  We’re learning.  All we can do is remain vigilant.”

                “Then you got that moron AOC calling everyone racist because they don’t want to eat at Asian restaurants anymore.”

                “You think the reaction to the virus in general is overhyped but you don’t have a problem with people not eating at Asian restaurants because of the virus?” Kera asked incredulously.

                “I didn’t say that.  It’s completely an exaggeration and an irrational fear of the highest level but it’s not racist.”

                “This is coming from someone that was surprised people are still buying Chinese artifacts despite the pandemic.”

                “I have no faith in people; I think they would generalize to not eat at Asian restaurant or handle Chinese artifacts because of a virus that originated in China.  I didn’t call it justified; I just really believe people are that stupid.  It’s an indication of my low faith in humanity not racism.”

                “I’ll give you that.”

                They land in Athens and immediately get into a car and drive the couple hours to Patra, which is right on the border between the Peloponnesian part of Greece and the northern part.  It is separated by the Corinth Canal.  As they climb a mountain to Kera’s house complete with lemon trees and chickens and roosters next door; they are clearly in a different setting from the two places they’ve lived; New York and London.  Kera had spent every summer here growing up so they all knew her.  As Fanis had only been to her village once, nobody really remembered him as they hadn’t seen him since he was 18.  Back then, he had a tight afro and was rail thin, which was in stark contrast to the 6’0” 225 pound bald man you see today.  In this village, there is only one store where you get all your grocery needs.  Since neither Kera nor her family is here very often, they have to go shopping every time to get what they need.  Both know exactly how this is going to go.  They’re going to try to buy groceries and there will be people sitting outside talking drinking Frappes and playing with worry beads.  They will insist that they join them and they will have to because there’s no point to be rude to someone that you’re going to see every day that you’re there.  Especially when there are not too many people around and your house is unoccupied for most of the year.

                 The trip to the store went exactly how they expected and now they were sitting down in a circle talking.  Unlike Kera, Fanis didn’t look Greek so when they started speaking, they asked Kera questions about if he was her husband.  Fanis tried to keep a straight face and keep his mouth shut to see what they said.  A man who was probably ten years older than Fanis was hitting on Kera telling her that he was a real man and Fanis was just a fat American.  Still, Fanis remained quiet until Kera shot him a dirty look and he burst out laughing as he couldn’t contain himself.  He asked Kera in Greek, “Is this the same asshole that was hitting on you last time I was here when you were 16 and he was like, what, 30?”

                Kera’s reply was a simple, “yes”

                He turned toward him, “I got to hand it to you.  You are persistent.”

                The other people in the group started yelling to add to the insult and teasing of their friend who was embarrassed.  He called out to the group, “Yea, you laugh now but they have a socialist that’s about to be president.”

                Fanis was happy that at least someone wasn’t talking about Corona.  He shot back, “In America, there are 50 state elections and you have to win a majority of delegates from those states to run for president.  Voting is always done on Tuesdays.  There are two Tuesdays when the most amount of states vote on the same day.  Bernie Sanders, the socialist you speak of, got crushed in the biggest one and the second biggest won, he only won one of the smaller states.  All the big states went to his opponent Joe Biden.”

                One of the other people in the group inquired, “Is it over then?”

                “No, it’s not but the Democrats are pressuring Sanders to drop out.”

                “But he doesn’t want to?”

                “No”

                “Who do you support?”

                “President Trump.”

                Kera quickly interjected, “I don’t though.”

                He turns to Kera, “So you want the other guy?  Biden?”

                “I think that he has a better chance to beat Trump than Sanders”

                Fanis stated, “I disagree. Biden is a very weak candidate because he’s a mess.  He’s losing his mind and he seems to get confused where he is half the time and what he was trying to say.”

                “He’s old”

                “Right, he’s older than President Trump.”

                Kera exclaimed, “Who cares!”

                The native Greek posed, “Why do you like him?”

                Kera looked taken aback by the question, “I think that Trump is an arrogant bully and he hates women.”

                Fanis declares, “See, that’s why I say he’s a bad candidate.  The people who support him never say anything nice about him.  They just tell you what he’s not. He’s either not a socialist like Sanders or not Trump.  Nobody gives a reason why they like him.”

                The native Greek looks over at Kera expecting her to rebut this but she doesn’t.  He looks between the two Greek-American cousins and pronounces, “Okay.”

                Theo utters, “The Democrats know I’m right so they are now trying to hide Biden from the public.  They canceled the Democrat debates so that he doesn’t have a chance to say something stupid again.”

                “I thought you said it was over?”

                “Bernie is close enough that it’s not officially over.  It’s just not looking good.”

                The native Greek keeps staring at Kera but she isn’t using the opportunity to talk.  He finally gives up and devotes his full attention Fanis.  He queries, “Is he really that bad?”

                Fanis answers, “They’ve limited Biden to seven minute speeches.”

                “Seven minutes?  Trump talks for like two hours every time he gives a speech.”

                “He can without making a fool of himself.”

                Kera breaks the silence with, “That is unfair to attack an old man’s mental state.”

                Fanis fired back, “Oh, no it’s fair game especially since Democrats attacked McCain for his mental state when he showed no signs of losing it.  They also wanted to initiate the 25^th amendment on President Trump saying he was mentally unfit for President.  Again, with absolutely no evidence.  Spare me that you don’t think it’s fair.”

                Manoli, the man that had been hitting on Kera for the last 17 years, yelled, “Hey, don’t talk to her like that! “ he turns to Kera, “Are you going to let him talk to you like that?  If you were my girl, I would show you respect!”

                “She’s my cousin asshole”

                “Well, I agree with her.  I like Biden because he’s not an arrogant bully.”

                “He threatened a union worker in Michigan because he asked him about the 2^nd Amendment.”

                “I don’t know what that is.”

                “Our right to have guns.  Biden wants to steal them from the people and when he was challenged on it, Biden called him a horse’s ass (Fanis used the literal translation; unsure if it translated in Greek)”

                Kera interrupted, “He only wants to take away automatic weapons.  He’s okay with shotguns and rifles.  Biden has guns and his sons hunt.”

                “He’s never really defined what is considered an automatic weapon.”

                “You think Trump is any better?”

                “Yes, Biden physically threatened the guy.  The fact the media praised him for it shows how hypocritical they are.  They love Biden for that but if a conservative calls someone a dick, they get pissed and call it unpresidential and childish.”

                Manoli called out, “Come to the beach with me Kera.”

                Kera ignored him and continued bickering with Fanis.  The other people were enjoying the conversation.  Manoli repeated the invite but Kera was used to ignoring him.  Finally, Manoli yelled out in English, “I’m coming to America bitch”

                With the Greek accent, the word ‘beach’ sounds very similar to ‘bitch.’  Manoli thought he was merely translating what he was saying in Greek.  It’s unclear why he switched to English as Kera and Fanis had proven that they were fluent in the language given this conversation.  This is only intensified since he watched Kera grow up and had many conversations with her in Greek.  Kera eyes widened and her mouth gaped open.  Fanis, however, was the one that spoke.  He kept with the Greek, “What did you say?”

                The other people in the group started screaming the word ‘beach’ in Greek repeatedly because they were fluent enough in English to know what Fanis thought Manoli said.  Fanis got up and ignored everyone else explain what Manoli was actually saying.  Kera, for her part, did nothing to stop it.  It’s unclear if the Greek-Americans heard the explanation as they showed no reaction but it certainly was said loud enough for them to hear.  All that we know is that Kera did nothing to stop her cousin’s aggressive stare and Fanis didn’t look like he was going to restrain himself.  Manoli got up and threw a punch at Fanis, which he ducked and delivered two shots to Manoli’s kidneys.  Manoli swung his arm back around and Fanis ducked again and came up uppercutting Manoli knocking him back into the chair with enough force to knock it back as Manoli fell on his back with his legs held up by the seat of the chair. 

                Fanis hopped over the chair and drove his knee into Manoli’s chest.  He grabbed him by his two carotoid arteries in the neck with his left hand and rained punches down into Manoli’s face telling him never to talk to his cousin again.  As Fanis’ knuckles turned red with Manoli’s blood, he got off him and stared down.  Manoli rolled onto his side coughing.  Fanis taunted, “I thought you were the real man.”

                “Fuck you”

                Manoli’s friends were holding Fanis back but after this comment they shook their heads and dropped their hands from Fanis who smiled at them in an unspoken understanding.  Fanis reached down and grabbed Manoli by the throat forcing him to his feet.  He threw Manoli forward and drove his knee into his stomach.  He forced Manoli onto his knees and grabbed his head with his left hand as he swung his knee and used his hand to force the side of Manoli’s head into Fanis’ left knee.  Looking at Manoli, Fanis could tell he was dazed and near unconsciousness.  He unceremoniously threw him face down into the pavement.  He placed his right foot on Manoli’s butt and raised his arms in victory much to the delight of the other people there. 

                Due to the fight, Fanis hadn’t noticed that Kera went inside the store.  She came out with a bag of ice and cloth.  She slammed the ice on the ground to break it up and wrapped it in a plastic bag.  She stared at Fanis and commanded, “Pick him back up to his knees.  I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

                Fanis obeyed and held his arms holding Manoli in place and upright on his knees.  Kera walked over and smiled down at him.  She commented, “This is for the last 17 years” and slapped him across the face sending a sound that reverberated across the village.

                The villagers all cried out “ooooo” as that was universal and cheered. Despite the little misunderstanding, they still believed that he took enough shots at Fanis that the violence was justified.  Kera picked up the plastic bag and placed it on Fanis’ knuckles and wrapped the cloth around his hand tying it in place.  Fanis smiled at her as she gave him a condescending look but disarmed him with a smile.  After that, they went back to Kera’s house and drove down the mountain to eat before returning to decompress and then prepare for the sale the next day. 

                The next day, Fanis and Kera went to the meeting where Kera was going to try to sell the artifact.  While they were inside, Fanis sparked a conversation with the security guard for the client.  The guard asked him the customary first thing you ask a Greek once you establish that they are Greek, ‘Where are you from?’ As in ‘what part of Greece.”

                Fanis answered, “Kalamata.” Which was about two hours south of where they were at the southern tip of Greece.

                “Ah, it’s nice over there.”

                “I agree.  How about you?”

                “Thessoloniki” (Biggest city north of Athens).

                “I’ve never actually been up there.”

                “It’s very nice.  You should go.”

                “I plan on it.  Maybe on this trip.”

                Fanis knew that they had no time to do that but it was a nice thing to say.  The guard gave him a perplexed look, “Your accent doesn’t really sound mainland.  Did you ever live in one of the islands for a period of time?”

                Fanis grinned because this was a huge complement for him.  When he spoke Greek outside of Greece, he had a thick American accent that seemed to disappear with extended time in the country.  One day, however, seemed really quick.  He explained, “I actually grew up in America.”

                The guard gave a knowing nod, “I should have realized by the way you were dressed.”

                “Yea, we live in England now.”

                “They weren’t very good to your president.”

                “No, they were not.  They helped Obama spy on him because even though they used the closest form of spying that is legal in the United States, that wasn’t good enough so they lured people who worked on his campaign to England so they could spy on them even more intrusively.”

                “The American spying is called a ‘FISA’ right”

                Fanis tilted his head to the side and gave a surprised look, “Yes, I’m impressed.”              

                “I work in counter-intelligence so I’m familiar with the tactics of other countries.”

                “I see. “

                “They lied to the FISA court to get the warrant right?”

                “They did, and I’m really happy that the new head of the FISC finally very clearly attacked the FBI for lying to them and told the head of the FBI Christopher Wray that his apology and small changes weren’t going to be enough.”

                “ What does he want him to do?”

                “He didn’t say.  What he did say is that there is little doubt that the government breached its duty of candor to the court with respect to those applications.”

                “I’m not sure how it sounded in English but it seems like a long way to say he lied.”

                “It’s the same in English.”

                “I think it’s pointless if it’s not going anywhere.”

                “I think it has to do with March 15.  There’s a vote to see if they’re going to continue with the FISA program and extend other surveillance techniques that George Bush allowed under the Patriot Act.”

                “Because of 9/11”

                “Yes”

                “That would make sense why he’s coming out now and saying this stuff.”

                “I agree.”

                “What do you think?”

                “They should get rid of it.”

                “What do you think will happen?”

                “Not sure.  The problem is that the House is deciding this and there are more Democrats than Republicans in the house.  There are some Democrats though that don’t like the government spying either so the extreme Democrats will need Republican help to extend them.  Republicans and Democrats don’t really agree on much anymore.”

                Kera exits her meeting and Fanis and the security guard say good bye to each other.  Kera gets in the car and they drive back to Patra.  Kera expresses, “I’m hungry, let’s stop at the taverna.”

                They do so and get Gyros.  In Greece, they put French fries inside the pita, which both Kera and Fanis appreciated.  Kera sighs and speaks slowly and calmly because she knows how her cousin gets passionate about politics.  She starts, “Now, don’t bite my head off but do you think with the market tanking that Trump may not be a sure thing to win in November?”

                “I’ve always said that if the economy doesn’t stay hot, Trump could lose.  Actually, I admitted even if it did stay high, he had a chance to lose.”

                “Right, but you were saying that so people don’t get apathetic.”

                “Well, I’m not sure how long it’ll take to recover from the Coronovirus inspired market collapse.”

                “His base is still strong and they support him though.”

                “His MAGA rallies may be a hotbed for hidden voters.”

                “What do you mean ‘hidden voters’”?

                “Hidden voters are people that will vote but don’t show up on voters lists.”

                “Why wouldn’t they show up?”

                “If they haven’t voted in the last four elections or they just recently registered.  All the lists have is your name and whether or not you voted in the last election.”

                “You think people that didn’t vote in 2016 will come out in 2020?”

                “Yes, he’s proven himself now.  Some of his current biggest supporters are people that either didn’t vote for him in 2016 or voted for him because they hated Hillary but now that he’s got a record to run on, they’ve become believers.”

                “You’re actually one of them”

                “I am.  I voted for him because I hated Hillary.”

                “And you mock me for voting for Biden because I hate Trump.”

                “My point was that that is the only reason people are voting for Biden.  In 2016, people voted for Trump because he was different, he was a fighter and he wanted to build a wall and lock up Hillary.  I knew he wouldn’t be able to succeed on the last one but a lot of people believed it.”

                “He didn’t build the wall either.”

                “Yea, the Democrats really fought him tooth and nail on that one.  Some conservatives still blame him for that but I don’t”

                “Of course not.”

                “Whatever”

                “Back to the hidden voters.  How do the rallies help?”

                “You get the information of people who support you for free.”

                “Oh right.  How did they do it before?”

                “Taking out ads.  Like everything else in government, it’s highly inefficient.  It usually costs about 1,000 dollars per vote so the fact that Trump can get it for free from the rallies is a huge bonus.”

                “I don’t think he’s going to be having too many rallies with this Wuhan Virus.”

                “Yea, and that is going to hurt him.  I’m not going to sugar coat it; it is a big problem that he no longer will be able to get this information for free since he won’t have rallies.   I’m a little suspicious how this keeps happening.  Sandy handed the election to Obama over Romney and now Wuhan Virus is going to hand the election to Biden.”

                “Don’t get conspiratorial on me.”

“Fine, I won’t but I’m thinking it.”

“Keep it to yourself then.  I don’t know.  I hear what you’re saying but I think the hidden voters thing is going to help Biden.  I think a lot of Democrats stayed home because everyone thought that Hillary was going to win easily.”

“I agree.  The numbers back you up on that too.  It’s estimated that 55% of hidden voters are Democrats.  The point is Democrats have no way to find them but Trump has an app and his rallies so he can find them for free.  That’s why he has the advantage.”

“Except now Wuhan Virus evened the playing field.”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

“Dear Trump, from China, payback’s a bitch!”

“Over 4,000 people have died.  Let’s not mock the loss of human life.”

“As an expert on China; Trust me, China doesn’t care about 4,000 people dying.  They have an overpopulation problem as it is.  It’s worth 4,000 people to get someone that isn’t going to threaten them with tariffs.”

“You mean stand up to them?”

“Whatever you want to call it.”

They finish dinner and then transition to drinks.  Since they’ve had a little too much to drink and all of Greece is very mountainous so one wrong turn and it’s not rumble strips you hit; it’s a free fall, they leave the car there and take a cab back to the Kera’s house.  The next day, they head back to the air strip.  Kera looked down at her phone and giggled causing Fanis to question, “What?”

“Your favorite New York Times writer is at it again.”

“Oh God, Adam Goldman strikes again?”

“Yup, this time he’s blaming Russia for highlighting racial tension before the election.  I took your advice this time and read the whole article.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Yup.  At the end, he admits that everything he says is questionable because we have no high level intelligence sources in Moscow to confirm any of this.  It’s also difficult to decipher.”

                “All of this is based on anonymous sources right?”

                “Of course.”

                “Whatever happened to the high level sources Steele claimed he has in Moscow?  Goldman was all over that on why we should believe Steele was credible.  Did that magically disappear?”

                “We had to recall him remember?”

                “Yes, and he didn’t want to go at first.  It definitely seemed like he was really worried about being outed.”

                “Well, he did eventually leave.”

                “He was never high level.  If he was, we wouldn’t have burned him in the media.”

                “At least you think he exists.”

                “I’m actually not sure of that.”

                “I know you’re not worried but the Wuhan Virus is concerning me.”

                “You’re not 60, you have no serious pre-existing condition; you’re fine.”

                “I know, and I hear you but the US markets have collapsed and every public event is shut down.  I know you think it’s an overreaction but it’s happening.  Justified or not, there is a worldwide panic.”

                “Yea, president Trump is even thinking to waive payroll taxes to convince Americans to spend more to help boost the economy.”

                “The Democrats want more Medicare and paid family and sick leave.”

                “Of course they do.  They love the nanny state but the president’s plan helps everyone.”

                “The Democrats plan helps the people who are sick.”

                “Oh no, it will be abused.”

                “Probably”

                “The President’s plan can’t.  You just get more money.  The Democrats will also put a bunch of riders and use the virus to their advantage.  They are very sick people.”

                “A seven percent pay raise is helpful.”

                “All joking aside, I don’t think it is.”

                “What?  You were just saying...”

                “No, I said what the president wants not that it would work.  I also said it helps everyone, which it does but like you said people are scared now.  Giving them more money won’t make them not fear the virus and invest; especially because they know it’s temporary.  They know that it’s not a lasting pay cut and it’s only a matter of time before the seven percent is jacked from them again.  Temporary raises don’t really entice people to spend more.”

                “What would you propose?”

                “Make it permanent.  Have it last for at least a year.”

                “Democrats would never approve that.”

                “And that’s the problem now isn’t it?”

                “Look, I’m scared.  I don’t really want to be in a big city right now.  Yes, I probably won’t die but I don’t like being really sick either!”

                “I don’t know what to tell you.”

                “Let’s stay here.  We each have houses here.  Again, yours is in a city that is dirty to begin with but I have a house away from people.  Let’s just stay there till this whole thing blows over.”

                Fanis shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t have a problem with that.”

                Kera sighs in relief, “Thank God.  I really thought you were going to fight me on that.”

                “I love Greece.  We still have our banking with London and America so we won’t have to rely on Greek banking, which is the only reason I couldn’t live here.  Like you said, we already have a place to stay so there’s really no reason not to.”

                “Then let’s turn around.”

                “Alright”

                Fanis does that and they go back to Patra and settle in.  Little do they know that in two days, the United States will issue a travel ban from every European country to America except the United Kingdom.  As Britain realized people may try to go to Britain to go to America, they also monitor flights from European countries into theirs.  It seems like it would be difficult for Kera and Fanis to go back even if they wanted to.  As they watch their window close, neither had any regrets about their decision.  After all, they had spent their childhood summers in Greece and it was their favorite place to be besides New York, where they no longer lived.  The other added benefit is that Manoli couldn’t try to get revenge in their absence.  Kera doubted he would try considering the other villagers were on Fanis’ side but it was better safe than sorry.