But Fredo was NOT his regular bodyguard. I got the distinct feeling that Fredo was sort of a messenger boy, allowed to hang out at Genco, drive his father around, go pick up his lunch, but never anything important. I thought of him as more of a companion for his father than anything else. He only acted as bodyguard when Paulie the traitor called in sick, apparently because the Tattaglias and Barzini had pegged him correctly as a weak link.