Fanis the bodyguard episode 41 It's all about momentum

                Two Americans in London are watching the results come in from Super Tuesday.  Going into the election, many pundits were saying that nothing could stop Bernie Sanders from being the nominee but the establishment Democrats were sure going to try.  As the states kept coming in, it was becoming very clear that Super Tuesday was a huge night for Joe Biden and a massive halt to Bernie’s momentum.  Kera, the owner of the flat, declares, “Holy shit, Biden is winning like every state.”

                Her cousin, Fanis, replies, “Yea, just shows that just like four years ago, the polls don’t mean shit.  This is a new era of elections.  The old rules don’t apply anymore.”

                “When you said that about Trump’s victory, I thought you were crazy but Biden was trailing in most of these states that he’s winning now.”

                In all, Biden would win Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia leaving only Vermont, California, Utah and Colorado for Bernie Sanders.  At the end of the night, Kera exclaimed, “So, it’s pretty much over.  Biden won the nomination.”

                “It’s not over.  Remember we thought it was over when Bernie won Nevada.  Don’t become a prisoner of the moment; Bernie is only 70 delegates behind.  That’s a very manageable deficit to overcome.”

                “Fanis, Sanders lost ground in most of the states from 2016; including his home state of Vermont.  You’re supposed to build from 2016; not decline.  This is very bad for him.”

                “Bad, yes but not over.  To your point about momentum, most of Bernie Sanders’ votes came from early voting not on Election Day.  That suggests that he’s losing steam.”

                “Whatever happened to your ‘Bernie Bros’ and how college kids love Bernie?”

                “People 45 and over make up 65% of the electorate voting in primaries.  Old people vote more than millennial socialists.”

                “I guess Biden is going to get the chance to beat Trump like a drum like he said.”

                “If Super Tuesday is any indication, I wouldn’t count on that either.”

                “Why not?”

                “People have been coming out for Trump and voting in the Republican primary.  I can’t even tell you who’s running against him.  He’s shattering records for an incumbent president in a primary.”

                “That’s not a very impressive record.”

                “I agree, but keep in mind this is the Tuesday after the stock market collapsed.  Yet, he’s still beating the record by two or three times.  More people voted for Donald Trump than all four current Democrats running.”

                “That’s nuts.  Trump fans are really crazy.”

                “That may be the case, but they come out to support and vote for him and that’s all you want.  I’ll give you a comparison.  In 1984, Reagan had 2.86% of the population vote for him in the primary.  Donald Trump, after 13 states, is at 5.92%.  Keep in mind, Reagan won 49 states that year.”

                “Alright, well, you should pack.  It’s a short flight but we got to go.”

                “Where are we going?”

                “Scotland.”

                “Yea, real quick flight.”

                Kera was an international Chinese art dealer. Business had slowed down a bit due to the Coronavirus but people still wanted art.  Kera, on the other hand, was avoiding picking up new pieces in China or anywhere in East Asia.  Instead, she was just going by the inventory she had had for a while.  While on the plane, Kera commented, “You may be right about the new era of elections theory.”

                “Why do you say that?”

                “Biden is on pace to win Minnesota and he didn’t visit nor does he have any staff on the ground there.  Bernie, on the other hand, has a lot of boots on the ground there, which is usually how people win.  The other way people used to win is by outspending their opponent and Bloomberg has spent $13 Million in ads in Minnesota.  Despite all that, Biden is projected to win.”

                “What did we talk about polls?  I do think Biden will win but I’m just saying, the polls sucked for Super Tuesday so what makes you think they will be good for Minnesota?”

                “Hillary outspent Trump and lost.  Bloomberg spent tens of millions of dollars in Virginia and still got crushed.  It’s safe to say that who that spends the most money will not win anymore.”

                They land in Edinburgh, Scotland and check into their hotel to drop off their stuff.  They immediately go to a bar and Fanis orders a scotch.  It is given to him in a shot glass but Fanis knows better than to take it in one gulp like is customary in America.  In Scotland, you sip it from the shot glass and savor the flavor.  Kera still sticks to beer.  After a few drinks, they head back to the hotel and go to sleep.  The next day, they head to the rendezvous point for the deal.  Fanis’ job is only to protect Kera as her bodyguard.  He doesn’t partake in the sale of the items.  In fact, while Kera is negotiating, he normally strikes a conversation with the other security guards.  He walks over and introduces himself.  The Scottish security guard is a few inches taller than the 6’0” Fanis with ripped muscles on a lean frame contrasting Theo’s broad body.  It doesn’t take long for the conversation to devolve into politics.  The Scotsman’s name is Finlay.  Finlay remarks, “President Trump seems very popular in America.”

                “Yea, but most of his supporters don’t announce themselves.  They stay low and just come out on Election Day.”

                “Those that oppose him are pretty loud and obnoxious about it are they?”

                “Oh yea.  That’s especially true for the media.  There’s an organization called ‘Vox’ that threw a hissy fit because Facebook’s most popular story was Hillary Clinton being deposed again for her e-mail scandal.  Vox wanted them to talk about Coronavirus and Super Tuesday so they vehemently attacked them.”

                “Why do they care what people are talking about on Facebook?  I mean for advertisement purposes I get but in general?”

                “The liberal media, like Vox, wants to pressure social media companies like Facebook to suppress conservative talk on their platforms.  They absolutely hate free speech.”

                “That’s a little hypocritical from a media agency eh?  They also seem to be in the wrong country for that.”

                “Indeed but nobody ever accused liberals of being smart.”

                “They seem like little babies to me.  We have him here in Scotland too.”

                “Oh, that’s exactly what they are.  They are projectionists.  Vox also printed that Trump supporters only run on emotion and not facts, which is the only reason they’re popular on Facebook since it’s all emotion.  The truth is the opposite.”

                “Well, did they say anything factual in their tirade against Facebook or was it just venting frustration?”

                “The only thing that was true was that people were talking about Hillary Clinton’s e-mail depositions on Facebook.”

                “That’s only a neworthy story if you add emotion.  Otherwise, it’s insignificant rubbish.”

                “Couldn’t agree more.”

                Kera finishes her deal and comes out.  Finlay and Fanis say good bye to each other and leave the building.  As Edinburg is small, there isn’t much to do besides go see the castle, which is at the top of a large hill.  Kera and Fanis opt to walk to the castle.  After touring it and learning how it was used to house American prisoners in the Revolutionary War, they become a little more fascinated.  One inmate carved the American flag into the door of his cell.  Luckily for him, at the time, there weren’t 50 states so he didn’t have to make too many stars. 

                After the castle, Kera and Fanis walk through the graveyard of an old church at the base of the hill the castle is on.  As they are walking, they see some fallen over tombstones and Fanis wonders why it hasn’t been maintained.  As he reads the headstones, he discovers that some of these people were buried before 1776, making their deaths older than the birth of America.  Suddenly, it’s no longer a mystery why tombstones have fallen over.  250 years of Scottish weather will do a number on any substance.  While they are walking, a man approaches them.  He looks at Kera and states, “Ah, an American woman.  How are you?  Callum is my name.”

                Kera shakes his hand, “I’m Kera” she responds with a smile.

                Callum ignores Fanis and Fanis chuckles.  He’s not sure if Kera wants him to tell the truth and introduce himself as her cousin, which may leave the door open for Callum to hit on her more or if he should pretend to be her boyfriend so Callum will leave.  Women always talk about giving the look when they want to be rescued from a conversation but Fanis never could recognize it.  Luckily Callum was about to give a very obvious sign that Kera didn’t want to talk to him.  He announces, “I know how you American girls love to fuck on vacation, so why don’t you come to my apartment and I’ll let you check that off your list.”

                Fanis puts out his hands and shrugs his shoulders, “Dude, what the fuck?”

                Callum glances at Fanis and then looks back at Kera, “I don’t know why you would be with such a cowardly man.  You should let me show you how a real man treats a girl in bed.”

                “No thank you” Kera answers

                “Perhaps, I should prove my point.” He utters as he grabs Kera by the arm. 

Fanis shoots his hands out and grabs Callum by the throat forcing him to release his grip.  “Now would be a good time to leave.” Fanis advises

                Callum puts his hands up in mock surrender and Fanis lets go.  Callum nods, “My apologies, you got a strong grip there man.  Forgive me, but I’m not too fond of Americans right now.”

                “Why’s that?”

                “Your Senator Lindsey Graham has compiled a witness list for the FISA abuse.”

                “Yes, and he subpoenaed Stephen Somma, who was Stefan Halper’s handler.”

                “Did you know that Halper is a CIA spy?”

                “Yes, I did know that.  He’s also friends with Richard Dearlove, who was Christopher Steele’s boss.”

                “Who wrote that lying sack of shit dossier that has sent your country in a whirlwind the last three years.”

                “Unfortunately, that is true.  Why would you have a problem with Graham though?  He wants to know why Somma pushed the investigation into Carter Page when Crossfire Hurricane was allegedly about Papadopoulos and Downer (Australian diplomat).  He’s trying to get him to admit that they had the dossier and that was the sole thing they based the investigation on.”

                “That won’t happen though.  We already know that Somma saw it because the FBI has admitted that even though they hadn’t seen the dossier till September 19, 2016, the New York Field office had it.  Guess where Somma worked?”

                “The New York FBI field office.”

                “Right, so obviously he knew.”

                “You still haven’t told me why you’re mad at Graham.”

                “He’s only pretending to be concerned.  You Americans always put on a front.  You’re liars.  See, in Scotland, everyone tells the truth and they do it in the most brutal language possible.  You Americans sugar coat everything and lie or refrain from saying things because it may hurt someone’s feelings.  Just like when I flirted with her” indicating Kera

                “I’ve been to Scotland many times.  You are blunt people but you lost me at the end because they aren’t normally that obnoxious when they hit on women.”

                Kera giggled and interjected, “I’ve been hit on by Scots before and they never disrespected me like you did.”

                “Well, it may have been egregious but it’s up to you to decide if this was just an isolated incident or a pandemic with the men of this country.  Graham seems to believe that this rampant FISA abuse was an isolated situation but the institution itself is sound.  He wants to vote to renew it even after everything that has happened with Spygate.  This is touchy for us Scotman since our neighbors to the south (England) love to put us under surveillance.  This makes us a little skeptical of international surveillance.”

                Fanis articulates, “Ah, so that’s your excuse.  Not very good considering Graham is wrong about it being an isolated incident and we know that this situation is an isolated incident.  It’s not a problem with Scotsmen; it’s a problem with you.”

                Callum smiled and then quickly had a stern face and punched Fanis.  Fanis blocked it but was a little surprised with the force that came from it.  Fanis kicked at Callum’s shin and he backed up giving Fanis a disappointed look.  Fanis put up his hands and Callum threw a right jab to the midsection.  Fanis dropped his hands to block but it was a decoy and the left came straight across Fanis’ head.  Fanis rolled with the punch and used the momentum to turn himself around and he shot his right leg back kicking Callum in the sternum.  Kera ran off as she was told to do by Fanis if situations like this arose.  The whole point was to make her safe; if he lost a fight and she was still there then it was all for nothing.  Callum called out, “Bitches kick.”

                “Then you’re about to get your ass kicked by a bitch.”

                Callum came at Fanis and dropped his arms staring at his legs expecting to be kicked.  This gave Fanis an opening and he punched Callum in the side of the face.  Callum twisted to the side but came back with a shot of his own.  Fanis dodged it and drove a left into Callum’s side.  This was retaliated by a headbutt from Callum.  Fanis took a couple steps back as blood emulated from his face.  Callum charged him and drove his shoulder into Fanis’ solar plexus.  Fanis was 224 pounds but Callum seemed to be around that too and was able to move him back.  Fanis was driven into a tombstone toppling it back as Callum landed on top of him.  Callum mounted Fanis and Fanis instinctively bent his knees up as Callum looked for an opening to punch down at his face.  Fanis slipped his right leg to Callum’s left shoulder on the inside of his arm to neutralize a shot from the left.  As Calllum winded up for a left hook, Fanis lunged his palm into Callum’s chest.  Fanis then slapped both his arms against Callum’s right to move it across his body and he tucked Calllum’s arm into his left arm pit.  Fanis then placed his left leg on Callum’s hip and pushed off turning himself to the right.  As he did this, he draped his right leg across the back of Callum’s head so it was behind his left shoulder.  Fanis then interlocked his ankles and flexed his feet choking Callum with his own arm.  Callum struggled and Fanis gripped the back of Callum’s head and pulled down increasing the pressure of the triangle choke. 

                Fanis had to hold on for a while until Callum stopped struggling as hard.  His body went limp and he fell forward.  Fanis eased him to the side and let go of the hold laying Callum out.  Fanis got up and found pieces of the tombstone he was tackled through.  He heard a moan and he turned to see Callum out of the side of his eye.  Fanis had dropped him on his back but Callum was rolled over and pushed himself up to all fours.  Fanis picked up a big piece of the headstone.  He walked over to Callum and swung the tombstone smacking Callum in the back of the head.  He barked, “That’s for calling my cousin a bitch.”

                Callum collapsed onto his stomach as blood flowed from the back of his head and onto the ground.  Fanis dropped the tombstone and made his way back to the hotel.  Kera mocked, “Did you defend my honor?”

                Fanis wasn’t in a jovial mood so he seriously rejoined, “Yes”

                Fanis removed his shirt and walked into the bathroom.  Kera noticed the small cut on his face but when she saw his back, she exclaimed, “Holy shit, look at your back!”

                “I can’t really do that now can I”

                “There is a mirror.”

                “No need, your reaction was enough”

                “What happened?”

                “He speared me through a tombstone.”

                “Here, let me help you.”

                Kera took out some gauze and rubbing alcohol and applied it to Fanis’ back.  She then did his face and proclaimed she was going to get some ice.  When she returned, she wrapped Fanis right hand in ice as his knuckles were cracked.  Fanis iced his hand for 15 minutes and then he took a shower. 

                The next day, Fanis and Kera were on the plane heading back to London.  Fanis pronounced, “You know, I have a strange feeling that Trump is going to win California.”

                “Are you fucking crazy?”

                “No, people are really pissed about AB5.  A million people lost their jobs from that little law.”

                “Is that the Uber and Lyft ban?”

                “Not really ban; you just can’t be an independent contractor.  By extension, it hurts writers, musicians and artists since their organizations can’t hire them full time.  Music and art festivals are being cancelled because it’s too expensive to pay all the performers at full employee status.  After all, that’s why they were free lance to begin with.  When you lose your job and it’s blatantly obvious why you did, you tend not to care about macro-problems and general political topics.  You’re pissed because their law hurt you.  All President Trump has to do now is mention the law and how much he’s opposed it and maybe some of them make an exception just this one time.”

                “That guy must have hit you pretty hard in the head.”

                “I’ll admit he punches hard but that’s not why I’m saying this.” 

                “I guarantee that the Democrat candidate will win California.”

                “What if it’s Biden and all the Bernie supporters in California are pissed because they believe the established Democrats colluded to make sure Bernie wasn’t the candidate; just like they did in 2016.”

                “You’re reaching.”

                “Am I?  They’re already pissed at Klobouchar and Buttigieg for dropping out the day before since most California voters vote early though mail.  Now, they’re all frustrated because their vote for Buttiegieg and Klouboucer were wasted but they can’t change it.”

                “When did the ballots go out?”

                “February 3”

                “That’s a long time ago.”

                “Exactly”

                “It’s their fault for not waiting till near the election.”

                “Why?  To see who’s left?  That’s the whole point of voting so you keep people around.”

                “It wasn’t their turn yet.”

                “Clearly.  You haven’t really given me any rebuttal.”

                “You want a rebuttal besides the overwhelming majority of liberals living in California?  How about that there is a huge Hispanic population? They don’t speak English but they know they don’t like Trump’s border wall because they have more family that want to come in.  In fact, I’m going to put it on MSNBC just to show you how liberals still hate Trump and would never vote for him.”

                On MSNBC, the journalist is talking to a store owner who only speaks Spanish.  The journalist finds a translator and asks the store owner who he’s voting for.  Through the interpreter, he says Bernie Sanders.  As they talk, the reporter finds out that he has a daughter so in order to bolster home her point, she inquires, “Who’s you’re daughter voting for.”
                He gives a long answer and Fanis, who is fluent in Spanish, laughs.  Kera turns to him suspiciously as she didn’t hear a candidates’ name.  The interpreter translates that the daughter if voting for Donald Trump causing the journalists to scream, “Why?”

                The store owner calmly responds that he doesn’t know but guesses it’s because of the economy.  Fanis grins at Kera and poses, “You were saying?”

                “Whatever, the Saudis are already helping Trump.  Jeff Bezos claims that Saudis were hacking his phone and Trump is anti-Amazon.”

                “You’d think with all that money he has, he’d hire someone to look into that.”

                “He did.  He has a Cyber security company investigating.”

                “Who?”

                Kera looks it up and answers, “FTI Consulting.”

                “You’re shitting me!” cried out Fanis

                “Why?  You know them?”

                “It’s owned by Anthony Ferrante.”

                “Who’s that?”

                “He’s the guy that Comey sent in to the National Security Council (NSC) to spy on Donald Trump and report back to the FBI for anything he found.  He then resigned from the NSC and worked for Buzzfeed where he tried very hard to authenticate the dossier.  Obviously he failed but he still proclaims it’s true.”

                “What was his role at the NSC?”

                “Cyber Security.”

                “Well then he’s qualified.”

                “Never said he wasn’t, it’s just odd that a deep state Spygate Comey acolyte would be meeting with Bezos.  It’s almost like they’re plotting something.”

                “You’re always so suspicious”

                “It’s what keeps you safe.”

                “That is true but I wish you could turn it off.”

                “Sorry, I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I could.”

                “I guess you’re right.”

                They land in London and immediately go back to their flat to rest.  They go about their lives as Kera contemplates when she could return to the Far East.  Although there are reports that China is back to normal, she knows China well enough to know that they never admit or show weakness so they would have no problem lying about them being back to normal.  The Coronavrirus decimated their economy because all their trade partners are suspicious of them and that is the majority of their economic revenue.  For now though, Coronavirus is still a hysteria so she’s going to wait just in case.

                As for Fanis, he was sore from having his back crashed through stone.  Due to this, he was okay with an extended respite from traveling the world keeping his cousin safe so he could heal up.  If Kera did need him though, no matter how much pain he was in, he would go as that is his duty and his job. 

 

 

 

Nouno the Vigilante Episode 37 Keep it Under Wraps

                Like many place in Los Angeles, the Pomorama City neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley is swarming with MS-13 gang members.  As the weather is always nice in Los Angeles, people are out enjoying the sun.  A high school student recently had an encounter with members of the MS-13 gang that attended his public school. 

                The student isn’t intimately familiar with the gang as the incident with his classmate was merely the student defending himself from an aggressor. As soon as the confrontation was over, the student went on with his day.  By the end of the day, a girl walks up the student and lowers her head lifting her eyes towards his, “Hey, you’re the badass that stepped up to that thug.”

                The student sized up the Hispanic girl and liked what he saw.  He waved his arm, “It wasn’t a big deal.  He thought he was tough but once you don’t back down from these assholes that talk shit, they back off.”

                “Well, I like having a tough guy beside me.  Do you want to meet me in the canyon later?”

                “Yea, I guess I can swing that.”

                The girl flashes a smile and purses her lips seductively.  She puts her hands on his chest and lightly rubs it, “I can’t wait to see you later.”

                The time had arrived, and the student entered the canyon.  He was smiling thinking that he was about to get lucky.  When he arrived, the girl was already there with a more sinister smile.  Soon, the student’s grin had turned to horror as 21 Salvadorian gang members walked into the canyon wielding machetes.  The girl stared him down and taunted, “What is it you said about us thugs being all talk and backing down once you step up?”

                “Are you sure you brought enough guys?”

                With that, the 22 gang members attacked him with machetes butchering him.  The gang members enjoyed it so much, that they carved the same chest that the girl had her hands on to flirt with him in order to rip out his heart and take it as a souvenir. 

                The congressman for the district that the school was in was Tony Cardenas.  As he is a politician, it was his job to host community and city events.  At one particular event, a teenage Latina caught his eye.  When the event was over, Cardenas invited her back to his home where she gave her wine.  Given the age of the girl, he probably could have gotten away with just refilling her glass when it got empty but, instead, he laced it with a sedative.  When the girl lost consciousness, he carried her to his bedroom where he removed her clothes and raped her. 

                Not too long after this incident, Cardenas has the chief of police come to his office.  On the outside, Cardenas has a charming smile and is very accommodating but on the inside he’s panicking that the teenage girl that was at his house went to the authorities.  It had been his experience that inner city youths hated policemen.  This allowed him to do what he wanted without fear of ramifications except a large payout.  The girl didn’t even try to extort him.  The chief of police started with dire seriousness in his voice, “We have a situation.”

                “What’s that?”

                “There was a scene over at the canyon.  A boy was brutally murdered and they carved up his chest.”

                Cardenas was relieved it wasn’t about him, “Do we know who the victim was?”

                “A local boy that went to the Pomorama City public school.”

                “Any suspects?”

                “It was a gang-related crime. There are actually multiple people involved.”

                “Not really a fair fight then.”

                “No, but given that there were so many perpetrators, they are very open about it.  We’ve identified all 22 people that were involved.  They’re all MS-13”

                Cardenas looked through the list and didn’t really recognize any names.  It was the same school that the girl he drugged and took advantage of attended.  “Do they have any priors?”

                “Most of them but five of them are seeking asylum.”

                “We can’t have this getting out.  The narrative is that all the asylum seekers are victims.  If we let this get out, it only fuels Trump’s rhetoric.  Make sure this is buried.”

                “Sir, you don’t want me to prosecute them?”

                “How is it going to look throwing 22 Latinos in jail?!”

                “But they’re MS-13 gang members.”

                “Yes, the very group that the highest ranking politician in this state, Nancy Pelosi, defended when Trump called them ‘animals.’  We cannot help the anti-undocumented crowd.”

                “I understand.”

                With that, the police chief left the room.  Cardenas then paged his secretary, “Get me the number to the principal of the Pomorama City high school.”

                It didn’t take the secretary long to find it.  Cardenas then called the principal of the school.  After introducing himself, the principal remarked with awe in his voice, “Mr. Cardenas, hi.  I wasn’t expecting your phone call.  To what do I owe the pleasure sir?”

                “As I’m sure you are aware, one of your students died tragically recently.”

                “Yes, I am aware.  I’m afraid there isn’t much we can do for these kids that choose the gang life.  We do our best to steer them clear of it by stressing the importance of education but, sadly, some fall through the cracks.”

                “Yes, but we can’t have people thinking that our schools are unsafe.”

                “It didn’t happen on school grounds.”

                “I know but the canyon isn’t too far away from the school.”

                “Are you suggesting I’m somehow responsible for this?”

                “No, what I’m saying is that you know how people talk and exaggerate things.  If we don’t stop the spread of this incident now, then fewer people will want to live here and with lower enrollment, there’s lower funding.”

                “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

                “Make sure nobody at your school brings up this event.  It is a forbidden topic.”

                “It’s hard to stop people from talking about it.  It rocked our community.”

                “If you don’t suppress it, then there will be less funding for your school.”

                “We’re barely able to get by with what we have now.  Please, don’t do that.  Don’t hurt the children especially after they just lost a classmate.”

                “It’s precisely that kind of talk that I want you to suppress.  As far as your school is concerned, it never happened.  Anyone that challenges that needs to be reprimanded.  Do you understand?”

                “I guess I have no choice.”

                The next day, many students were talking about how there was one fewer in this class.  As students started getting suspended and sanctioned for talking about it, the rest of the school realized that they weren’t to speak of the incident.   As this went on, the MS-13 members strutted down the hallways as they had just confirmed they were untouchable.  Students cowered as the message was sent loud and clear, these violent brutal kids could do whatever they wanted to them and the school would protect the assailants.  Frustrated by the recent events, one teacher spoke out in defense of her kids that justice needed to be served.  It didn’t take long for her to realize that she wasn’t exempt from being punished for being against the gang violence.  When the principal spoke privately about her, the teacher kept asking where the murdered child was.  In response, she was gagged and punished for it.  If the kids didn’t get the message before, they certainly did now;  their teacher can’t help them and the police are on MS-13’s side.  All they could do was keep their head down, be respectful to the gangsters and hope they stay off the wrong end of their machetes. 

 

                Meanwhile in Arizona, Abby is tracking the latest news on the escalating conflict in Iran.  She calls out to her husband, “Hey Nouno, if we had any hope that we’d be like Dexter or the Boondock Saints, you can forget it.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “Nobody is going to think we’re heroes for being vigilantes.”

                Abby and Nouno travelled the country killing people that law enforcement refused to prosecute for politically correct reasons.  He responded, “Keep in mind that law enforcement and the media weren’t fans of either Dexter or the Boondock Saints.  It was regular people on the street that praised them.”

                “That is true”

                “Why are you saying this though?”

                “Well, given how the media can’t even celebrate the killing of Suleimani, they probably won’t believe the people we kill were all that bad.”

                “Well, the last high profile terrorist President Trump killed, the media referred to as an ‘austere scholar.’  So yea, not too surprised they’re not painting this guy for the savage, ruthless murderer he was.”

                “It’s worse than that.  They are openly mourning him.”

                “I would think ‘austere religious scholar’ is on the lines of mourning’”

                “No, look at the NY Times Helene Cooper” she sends him an article about how Cooper complains that the US military is ‘tragically good at killing people.”

                “Wait, don’t we want a military that’s good at killing people?”

                “I guess not!  Look at Martha Raddatz in Iran.”

                Nouno watches a video of Martha Raddatz in a head scarf interviewing Iranians who vow for revenge against the United States and chant ‘death to America’’ frequently.  He opines, “What does she mean she’s never seen anything like it?  There are violent protests in the Middle East all the time.  Where has she been?”

                “Some of those protests were for liberty to take down the Ayatollah so not in their best interest to promote that.”

                “Well we got the New York Times and GSA, now we just need the Washington Post.”

                “Glad you asked” Abby replies sarcastically and sends a tweet from Missy Ryan comparing the Trump inauguration to the Suleimani funeral to show that more people were at the funeral.”

                “This is just getting more bizarre.  I mean, I can understand not giving him credit for it but to cry and mourn over the loss of a guy who killed hundreds of Americans?  This is fucked up.”

                “I know.  That’s why we need to stay in the shadows.”

                “I always did”

                “I know, but I didn’t.  It would be nice to get some recognition for all the good work we’ve done.”

                “Yea, well as long as there are Democrats in charge, there will be rampant crime, poverty and power-hungry big government inhibiting people from working with endless regulations.  Once those businesses fail then all they need to do is take over.”

                “It’s not Democrat’s fault.”

                “Why doesn’t this happen in Republican states and counties.”

                “We have a larger population.”

                “The numbers show the same result even if you do it per capita.”

                “I’m not talking about this.  We have a case.”

                “Fine, where?”

                “LA”

                “Of course it is.”

                “This is our biggest one yet.”

                “Why?”

                “Well, you know how we normally hunt one person?”

                “Yes”

                “Now, we’re targeting 22 people.”

                “What?! That’s a lot of people.  How do you suppose we’re going to take them?”

                “We enlist help.  We still have a bunch of people from when we were Minute Men.  They’re loyal so let’s just ask them and see what happens.”

                “Okay, I’m going to call Eric Prince to see if he can help.”

                “He’s no longer the CEO of Blackrock.”

                “Exactly, that means he has less to lose so is more prone to risk.”

                “What do you have in mind?”

                “We’re going to need an army to take on MS-13.  This isn’t a couple members; we are going to kill 22 of those fuckers.”

                “How can you get a hold of Eric Prince?”

                “My cousin’s in the military and the military consults with him.  I can get to him.”

                “Alright, see what he says.”

                Nouno gets the number and it didn’t take too much prodding to get Erik Prince to agree as he was a NAVY SEAL that had militarily trained multiple men and formed his own private army through his company.  He was the perfect man for the job as he immediately surveyed the land in the San Fernandina valley for an ambush point.  He knew that MS-13 would be cocky, which he could use to his advantage.  He also paid proxies to contact those in the school that were punished merely for asking the whereabouts of their missing classmate.  When his reconnaissance was complete and he had people on the ground to do his interviews for him, Prince travels to Arizona with an arsenal.  He, Nouno and Abby go through candidates and pick a team.  Abby and Nouno like the idea of using those affected as they may be radicalized to help.  Nouno was surprised that Abby agreed so quickly but was happy for it.  When the time came, Abby booked a flight and her and Nouno flew to Los Angeles.  Eric Prince wasn’t too far behind but he drove because it was hard to carry all the weapons on a plane.  Prince had rented out a large amount of land outside of Los Angeles as their headquarters.  While on the plane, Nouno states to Abby, “Oh shit, Nunes is at it again.  The Republicans are finally taking the offensive.”

                “Why?  What are they doing?”

                “Investigating Inspector General Atkinson for his handling of the Ukraine Whistleblower.”

                “Oh God”

                “The Democrats got their turn to endlessly investigate us, now it’s payback time.”

                “That is kind of our business; payback.”

                “I thought Horowitz was the inspector general.”

                “Of the DOJ.  Atkinson is the IG for the Intelligence Community.”

                ‘Ah, so there is a lot of inspector Generals.”

                “Yes,”

                “Why do we care about this one?”

                “He was the one that Eric CIaramella brought the phone call with Trump and the Ukrainian president to; the whole quid pro quo that he got impeached for.”

                “Right, that nonsense.”

                “Yes, and Atkinson should have nipped that nonsense in the bud because the law states that in order to be a whistleblower, you have to have firsthand knowledge, which Ciaramella didn’t”

                “How did it progress then?”

                “Atkinson changed the law so that you no longer needed to have firsthand information.”

                “That’s just ridiculous!  How do you get away with that?”

                “Nobody gets prosecuted for defying President Trump.  Democrats are above the law.”

                “He’s not even a Democrat; he’s a law enforcement guy.”

                “But, he worked for Obama, which means he’s got full immunity from everything.”

                “You say that a lot, at first I thought you were crazy but I’m beginning to believe you now.”

                “Well, this may hurt that.  The Republicans are investigating it and they did ask him about it.”

                “And….”

                “His testimony as to why he changed the rules is now classified.”

                “Well, then it’s probably damning and hurts some powerful people.”

                “You said it, not me.”

                “Do you have a motive or is it just the blanket if you worked for Obama, you hate Trump?”

                “In July 2016, Michael Atkinson was John Carlin’s senior counsel.”

                “Wasn’t he on the Mueller probe?”

                “Yes, he was also Bob Mueller’s chief of staff when Mueller headed the FBI.”

                “Ah, so Trump embarrassed his old boss’ old boss….that’s a big degree of separation.”

                “It’s less separation than Eric had with the Trump phone call”

                “True, but that shouldn’t be the bar.”

                “You’d hope but the way things are going, who knows how low they can go?  For the record, Carlin was also the head of Obama’s National Security Division and one of the final people to sign the FISA warrant and Atkinson was his lead lawyer.”

                “You should have started with that.”

                “I wanted to bait you into saying that I made a weak argument and was being a conspiracy theorist.”

                “I didn’t bite though.”

                “No, you’re too smart for that.”

                Abby smiled but gave him a dirty look.  She countered, “Or, I just know you too well.”

                After the plane arrives in LAX, Nouno and Abby head out toward Prince’s land.  When they arrive, they’re shocked at what they find.  Prince had offered to train them in combat but Nouno didn’t want to go through a military boot camp.  While Abby and Nouno were waiting for Prince to drive up, they aided in talking to the students, teachers and parents of the school to see who was suspended and if their little army would grow.  Finally, Prince arrives and Nouno congratulates him on putting everything together so quickly.  Prince responds, “No problem.  We need to always be prepared especially with the way things are going lately with all these gun confiscations.  We are in the heart of socialist territory in America. There’s no such thing as being too prepared, too cautious or too paranoid in this hellhole of a state.”       

                Nouno chuckles, “I have a feeling that if a Democrat wins the presidency, after what Trump has exposed, there may be a violent clash between liberals and conservatives in this country.”

                “Yea, you’d be surprised who’s on which side too.  Look at John Bolton.  I used to like him but now he seems like he wants to testify in the impeachment trial.”

                “I know; why bother saying you wouldn’t challenge a subpoena if it happens?  Just wait and see.”

                “I mean, if you got something to say, say it asshole.”

                “Seriously.  Even the concept of the House demanding witnesses for the Senate trial is basically admitting that they didn’t have enough information to impeach.”

                “Yup, they rushed impeachment and were wrong because they didn’t have all the necessary information.  Suddenly, it’s no longer an urgency.”

                Abby walked over and overheard their conversation.  She declared, “I’m not even sure how it would work to challenge the subpoena.”

                “The same way it always would I’d think.” Nouno responded

                “No, think about it, say Mulvaney (Trump’s chief of staff) is subpoenaed and he challenges it.  The judge presiding over the impeachment is the chief justice of the Supreme Court.  That would mean Justice Roberts would have approved a subpoena and then a federal court judge has to rule on his superior’s ruling that it was legitimate.”

                Nouno looks up and moves his head back and forth contemplating this.  He confesses, “That does seem like a conflict of interest.”

                Prince adds “You got a smart girl there.  Make sure you hang on to her.”

                The strategizing is done and now the plan is set in motion.  Usually, it’s Abby and Nouno strategizing but this time they take a back seat to Prince.  It was much easier for Abby to stalk them on social media since many of the kids in the school were already friends with some of the killers.  All 22 were identified and tracked.  A Facebook group was set up as a resistance against the 22 and listed them by name.  Facebook immediately took it down and banned them but not before MS-13 got the message.  The killers were quick to harass them and every student was programmed with a response, “If I say anything here, I’ll get suspended because the school protects you.  Why don’t we meet in the canyon where the principal and Cardenas can’t help you.  Each student was to challenge them 1-1.  The weekend came and the students showed up as this was their fight.  Like clockwork, the 22 MS-13 members showed up in the canyon wielding machetes.  The students were strapped with guns but also had machetes or comparable supplied by Prince.  They were to make it look like they were going to fight them head on. 

                On the outskirts of the canyon, hidden in the terrain, were paramilitary soldiers staring threw scopes.  They couldn’t believe their luck that all 22 showed up.  As anticipated, there were more than just the 22 that showed up.  As the Salvadorian gang members brandished their weapons with smiles, high pitch noises echoed off the canyons.  Several members dropped to the ground screaming in pain.  It is unknown if they realized it or not, but the only ones that were writhing in pain, were the ones not on the list of 22 killers.  It may not seem like it at this point, but they are actually the lucky ones.  During the chaos, as they frantically look around, the 22 unwounded MS-13 members are perplexed why their opponents haven’t advanced.  They are about to find out when the same sounds are heard, this time, the 22 killers are shaking their hands as their machetes are lying on the ground.  This was the cue as the students charged with their bladed weapons. 

                The results were quite obvious as to what happens when a group of people with bladed weapons attack a group with no weapons and a bullet in their dominant hand.  There was no mercy and no hesitation as the students plowed through the gang members.  When the fight ended, they started screaming, “This is our city!” and similar battle cries.

                Nouno and Abby were watching this unfold and Nouno turned to her and opined, “So much for staying in the shadows.”

                “We didn’t really expose ourselves.  This was all Eric.”

                “There’s  a trail that we contacted him.”

                “Well, we’ll cross that bridge if we get there.”

                “Agreed.”

                “Come on, let’s celebrate with our allies.”

                Nouno and Abby enter the canyon high fiving and congratulating the students.  Nouno is a little nervous as they are still armed and may mistake them for something else.  To his surprise, they actually were aware they were with them.  Abby would explain later that she befriended them on social media and got to know them and they got to know her.  He wasn’t a fan of that but knew that Abby kept their vigilante work off of social media.  A boy called out, “Man, we were like the marines that assassinated Soleimani”

                Nouno shook his head, “That piece of shit was not ‘assassinated, he was killed.  Bernie Sanders wants you to use that word to try to make it seem wrong what we did.”

                “Well, it didn’t work.  I don’t care about some dude thousands of miles away.”

                “That dude is responsible for 17% of all American deaths in Iraq.”

                “Yea, I get it.  He’s a fucking terrorist.  Good riddance.”

                “Yea”

                “What difference does it make if I say ‘assassinate’ or ‘killed?”

                “Bernie Sanders and the left want you to call it an ‘assassination’ because the US government forbids assassinations.  If it was an assassination, then it was a crime.”

                “Oh, well fuck that.  It’s not a crime to kill someone during a war.”

                “I would agree so don’t call it ‘assassinate.’  Just how you didn’t ‘assassinate’ anyone from MS-13, who was just as much an imminent threat to you as Suleimani was to American troops in Iraq.”

                “I feel you.”

                “I hope so because Sanders wants to take it a step forward and compare it to Putin killing his political enemies.”

                “Well, I don’t know about that.”

                “Think about it.  Do you think us killing an Islamist terrorist from Iran is the same thing as a president killing someone for disagreeing with him?”

                “is the person in his own country?”

                “Yes”

                “Is he just fronting?”

                “Yea, he’s only talking.  He didn’t attack anyone.”

                “Then no, not the same thing at all.”

                “See, you do know about this shit.”

                It didn’t take long for the news of 22 dead people to reach its way to Cardenas.  The media kept it under wraps as they have long ignored gang violence but this not being a rival gang made some reports leak.  Still though, not too many people knew about it yet and Cardenas called the chief of police back into his office.  The chief walked in with another officer and explained, “He really wanted to meet you sir.  He’s one of my best deputies so I told him I’d bring him with me even if it’s for you to chew me out.”

                Cardenas extends his hand and the deputy shakes it introducing himself as Officer Ramirez.  If the chief thought this would stop Cardenas from speaking freely, it didn’t.  He immediately posed, “What are we doing to keep this little scuffle in the canyon under wraps.”

                “The press is already ignoring it.  The school is no longer talking about the missing boy like you wanted.”

                “No, instead they’re going to be talking about how they got revenge.”

                “Well, we suppressed their freedom to speak about it.  When you suppress freedoms, people generally revolt.”

                “Not kids.  They’re used to being told what to do and when to shut up.”

                “They are teenagers sir, they have a tendency to rebel against authority.”

                “I need to know that this is over.”

                “You will never need to worry about it again.  You have my word that you will never hear about another act of violence by MS-13 or its proxies.  They are worried now that they were so thoroughly punched in the mouth that you won’t hear a peep from them again.”

                “I don’t think you can guarantee that.”

                “Oh yes, I can sir.”

                “Bold words; let’s see if you can back them up.”

                Officer Ramirez spoke up, “I can’t believe these Hollywood actors.”

                Cardenas gives him a strange look, “Okay, a little off topic but yea, they are arrogant little snobs.”

                “Stella McCartney was actually praising Joakim Phoenix for wearing the same tux the entire award season.  That’s what makes someone a champion for climate change and not being wasteful?  Jeez, I don’t even own a tux.  I just rent them when I need to be in a wedding but to actually have multiple ones, that’s what I call excess.”

                “You got the next best thing; a uniform.”

                “I do like Joakin Phoenix though.”

                “I didn’t see joker but he did have that mental breakdown a while back.”

                “He was in Gladiator.”

                “That was a long time ago but yes, I did like that movie too.”

                Cardenas couldn’t figure out how the conversation had gotten to this point.  Officer Ramirez pulled his gun out of his holster and stated, “You told the entire city to ignore the death of my son.  He pulled the trigger and shot Cardenas at point blank range.  When he practiced this, he was going to squeeze the trigger after getting out two more lines but he just couldn’t resist.  He uttered, “I killed you quickly and just like Joakim Phoenix in Gladiator, I ask you ‘am I not merciful!!’” yelling the last part. 

                The chief of police grabbed the boy’s father and forced him face down on the desk.  The murdered boy’s father put his arms behind his back and allowed the chief to cuff him.  He muttered, “I got revenge on the animals that ripped my heard out by literally ripping my son’s heart out.  You think I care if I go to jail?  I got nothing else!  You let them take my fucking son.”

                The chief escorted him to the station to be processed.  Everything had been planned in advanced as when Abby spoke to the boy’s father about their idea he upped the ante and told them that if they could get him in a room with Cardenas so he could kill him, he would confess to organizing, planning and coordinating the whole thing.  That was his way of showing his gratitude for all of them in avenging his son.  True to his word, he signed the confession and took a deep breath as he exhaled relaxing his shoulders. 

                Just as quickly as it arose, Prince and his arsenal were gone.  Nouno and Abby got back on the plane and headed back to Arizona.  Nouno wanted to talk about anything else so he went to his normal complaining about the government, “We should investigate Mueller too.”

                “You just want to investigate everyone that investigated Trump.”

                “Yes, they were all part of the cover-up and collusion hoax as to what the Democrats did.”

                “Mueller buried himself with that testimony.”

                “Not good enough.  The IG Report also showed special counsel replicated the FBI abuses.”

                “I know you’re not going to let this go.  Just let it out.”

                “In January 2017, the FBI interviewed Steele’s sources and found out that he misrepresented them and it was all fake and a hoax.  At this point, everyone in the FBI knows it’s a hoax but five months later in May, Bob Mueller is appointed as special counsel.  If the FBI knew it was bogus, what was Mueller doing?”

                “According to you, covering up what the FBI did.”  Abby was giving him a condescending look as her lips spread apart.  She continued, “Just because the FBI knew, doesn’t mean Mueller did.”

                Undeterred, Nouno retorted, “On 5/17/17, the FBI handed over all their information to the special counsel.  A month later, they renewed the FISA a third time with the same 17 lies and omissions highlighted by the IG report.”

                “That’s right, Mueller was working very closely with the FBI since he used to be the head of it.”

                “Also in June 2017, the FBI’s office of general counsel lied and said that Carter Page was not a source for another federal agency but the undoctored CIA e-mail revealed that the CIA admitted that Page was working for them.  They just added ‘not’ in there.”

                “That’s all dossier crap.”

                “Changing an e-mail to say what you want it to is not dossier crap.”

                “Well no, but all the FISA stuff was.  Mueller had nothing to do with the original FISA or the Steele dossier.”

                “That’s the problem.  The only document that talks about Trump colluding with Russia is the Steele dossier and it’s hardly mentioned in Mueller’s 435 page report.  That’s all the IG report talked about.”

                “Steele was fired as a source for the FBI though.”            

                “The IG report mentioned that too.  After Steele was fired, he was laundering information through the 4^th highest member of the DOJ, Bruce Ohr.  According to the IG report, the FBI met with Ohr 13 times after firing Steele.  At that point, the FBI should either have reopened Steele as a confidential human source or stop meeting with Ohr because they know where Ohr is getting the information from.”

                “Did the FBI know it was coming from Steele?”

                “Yes, they assigned an agent named Joe Pientka to be Ohr’s handler and give him a direct line of communication.  If they really didn’t like Steele leaking to the media, the reason they say they fired him, they apparently didn’t mind him talking to other government agencies after being fired.  They knew he was talking to everyone.  Why would you be talking to the media when it would jeopardize your employment but stop when it no longer would?”

                “Look, if everything you’re saying is true, then why does Trump allow any intelligence official that worked for Clinton or Obama stay on in their position?”

                “No fucking idea?  How did the man that had the words, ‘you’re fired’ as a tag line and the marking of a hit show be so hesitant to fire people?”

                “Well, the Mueller probe started because he fired Comey.”

                “So what? there are no open investigations into Trump now.  Everything is wrapped up except maybe impeachment.  Fire everyone.  It wasn’t even obstruction the first time he did it.  Hell, they already impeached him so who cares?  Just fire everyone that ever worked for the Clintons or Obama.  Clear house.  It’ll be good for the country.  Maybe, he just loves the fight.”

                Abby laughed, “Yea, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

                When they returned home, they went out drinking.  It wasn’t really a celebration.  They were worried how things were escalating.  Abby was the first to address it but waited till they were back home, “We participated in a political killing.”

                “That we did” Nouno responded in a solemn voice.

                “And a lot of people know about it.”

                “Teenagers actually.  The biggest fucking gossiping group on the planet.”

                “What do we do?”

                “What we always do when we get worried.  Keep going until someone stops us.”

                Abby grinned, “Yea, but we should stop trying to help them out.”

                “Maybe subconsciously, we want to get caught.”

                “I don’t think so.”

                “Or maybe it’s just the obvious.  There were 22 of them.  We needed help.”

                “As it turns out, they needed help.”

                “Yea, but they didn’t get some.”

                “Go USA”

                “Shockingly, LA still is apparently.”

                They went to bed and slept soundly and deeply.  Even though it had escalated, the fight was not out of them. 

                Unbeknownst to them, the incident sent a message that rocked the state.  Suddenly Diane Feinstein was telling Pelosi to release the articles and get it over with and their harsh rhetoric died down.  They had infiltrated their safe space and killed one of theirs.  They couldn’t publicize it because they received a threat from the girl he raped that if they hyped the murder, she would come forward with what he did to her.  Between that and the killing, the Democrat politicians moved on just like they had when the student was murdered by 22 MS-13 members.