A long walk home lay ahead Aki and I, just like every other person in Central London. We joined the long march home along streets normally home to a cacophony of engines. We passed through the policed periphery of the City to see endless queues of cars, stuck in London's choked arteries, London's heart attack. It took us two and a half hours to get home.
On the weekend, my sister escaped from the capital to Birmingham. On that same weekend, most of the Birmingham city centre was evacuated because of the threat of a terrorist attack. It was now clear which member of the Goodwin household was the real jinx.
Life continued after July 7. I remember the following day being sat on the DLR beside a man of Middle Eastern appearence, reading a book bearing arabic script. Life continued.
Not for everyone, of course. Philip Russell, an employee of JP Morgan Chase, never made it to work on July 7. He was missing for several days. The following week, it was confirmed that Philip had fallen to the Tavistock Square bomb.