Meet The Street- Jay

Meet the Street: Jay

Everyone had a life before.

My name’s Jay.

I don’t have much to say about myself. Never have. If something needs doing, I do it. If it doesn’t, I leave it alone. That used to be enough.

Before everything changed, my life was small in a good way. Work. Home. Food on the table. Knowing where the kids were by the sound of the street. I liked the routine. Predictable things. Doors that locked and stayed locked. Problems you could solve by fixing the right part.

The night it went wrong, there were too many voices at once.

Radio. Television. Phones are lighting up and then going dead. People were talking over each other, trying to decide whether it was serious or not. I remember thinking that no one sounded in charge. That bothered me more than what they were saying.

When the bang hit the window, I was already moving.

Not fast. Not dramatic. Just enough to get between the noise and the people who needed shielding from it. Old habit. You don’t wait to see what something is before you position yourself properly.

After that, things simplified.

Fear does that. It strips the unnecessary bits away.

Someone needed to watch the road. Someone needed to decide who stood where, who rested, who didn’t. I didn’t volunteer. I just didn’t leave my post when everyone else shifted. Turns out that’s sometimes all it takes.

Emma noticed before most people did. She always does. She keeps the bigger picture in her head. I keep the edges. Exits. Sightlines. The spaces where things slip through if you’re not paying attention.

People think leadership is loud. It isn’t. It’s standing still when everyone else wants to run. It’s making sure the children are behind you without making them feel like something’s wrong. It’s knowing when not to speak.

Queen’s Road wasn’t special. It was ordinary. That’s why it mattered. Ordinary places don’t come with instructions when they stop being safe.

I don’t think about the old world much. There’s no use in it. What matters is who’s here now. Who eats? Who sleeps? Who’s missing?

The street holds because people hold it.

That’s all I do.

Everyone had a life before.
Welcome to Queen’s Road.