AN: Well it's been a while for this one...
"Boy. You gotta learn to ask before you just help yourself to things."
He may have been in his mid teens, but Mater looked like a child being scolded much more harshly than he really was with the way he scuffed the dirt with his shoe, his hands behind his back as he stared at the ground.
He'd only wanted to help, and he'd wanted it to be a surprise when Red woke up early that morning to see his flowers had already been watered and tended to.
Except Mater had accidentally drowned them.
Luckily they weren't beyond saving, sure they needed to be transplanted to dry pots, allowed to air out a little before they could return to their flowerbeds, causing more work than Red would have needed to do in the first place, but they were salvageable.
Sheriff wasn't angry with him, there were just times when a firmer tone needed to be taken with the boy to really get the point across.
"Look, I know you want to help but maybe you should ask before taking it upon yourself-"
"Can I help you Sheriff?"
He stuttered briefly. "With what?"
It was 1977 and town had begun to slowly dwindle the last however many years. It wasn't like he was pressed for time when it came to seeing that his duties were taken care of.
"Well I dunno. There's gotta be something you need help with right?"
Oh it was going to be a long summer if this was what the first week of June looked like already.
So he put him to work in the small office he used and they worked together sorting through old paperwork. Well, he told Mater where to put each item anyway. He wasn't going to let him go unsupervised.
When the desk was cleared, the boy looked at him expectantly but he was forced to raise his hands in defeat. "There's nothin' else Mater, other than checking up on everyone."
So Mater tagged along, but by the time they made it to Flo's he'd decided he was going to do something to help everyone that day, even if it was something as simple as drying dishes at the V8. It would give him something to fill up his time, and it was just a nice thing to do.
He started there at the V8, drying dishes from the lunch rush for Flo and wiping down the tables before he wandered over to Lizzie's and dusted her small space top to bottom. He ping ponged back and forth through town, from the Casa Della Tires where he helped rotate inventory to Ramone's, where he couldn't really do much aside from keep Ramone company...to The Cozy Cone, where he still couldn't do much but he did hang up all the keys that had been returned that morning before moving on. He'd stopped to see Red but only to apologize and ask if there was anything he could do to make up for his mishap.
Red had only shaken his head with a faint smile, it wasn't like he was busy either. So Mater stopped at the Surplus Hut to help Sarge organize his space for the thousandth time and politely turned down Fillmore's request to help with his flowers. He'd done enough with flowers that day.
Maybe he could walk out to the Butte, or see if he could borrow a beater car and drive up to the old Wheel Well, that had been closed up about three or four years ago, but the view was sure pretty. As he cut through the back of the Surplus Hut and wandered back toward the V8, he stopped abruptly and turned around. He was sure he could find some way to help Doc out with something.
He felt a tug on the back of his flannel shirt as he passed the old deck off the back of the house, having not even noticed Doc right there as he'd passed the first time.
"Hold it right there..."
He back tracked a step as his shirt was released and Doc looked up from the paper he'd been reading.
"Where you headed Mater?"
"I was just headed over to see if you was in the garage. I been helpin' everybody in town."
"Oh yeah?" At the kid's nod he continued. "Well unfortunately there's nothing I need help with today."
"Are you sure? I could help pick up or maybe even wash the-" He trailed off at the look of you know better than that.
With a somber expression he tried again. "Well what about the clinic? Maybe I could-"
Just the idea of Mater around needles, syringes, and medications forced Doc up out of his chair. He folded the newspaper and tossed it on the table. "We'll find something."
Except they hadn't. Radiator Springs had never been an exceedingly large town but with each passing year as residents slowly moved on or shut down their businesses, it was harder and harder for even the adults to find anything to bide their time, let alone a teenager.
So Mater had sulked the rest of the afternoon, and as evening wore on he wondered about asking someone to borrow a car again, just for something to do.
Leaving the V8 as night fell, he wondered if it was too late to take a walk to the Butte. Hearing the rumble of an engine approaching he glanced over his shoulder and moved to the side as the Hornet pulled up beside him.
Doc leaned an arm out the window and looked up at him. "You still looking for something to do?"
"Yeah."
He gestured to the passenger seat. "Get in."
He rounded the front of the car and slid in to the passenger seat before pulling the door shut with a heavy thud.
"That hinge still isn't right."
"It need a new hinge pin?"
"Needs a new hinge. That door hasn't been quite right for a long time."
"I could look at the yard, I'm sure there's somethin' comparable."
Doc only grinned as he turned off the main road. "I'd appreciate that, Mater."
"Where we goin'?"
"Ol' man Wilson's."
He shut the car off, pulling the parking brake before getting out and pausing to look back to see Mater trying to see the mechanics of his door in the fading light.
"It'll last till tomorrow."
Mater jumped up and closed the door before following to the fence line. He raised a brow quizzically when Doc folded his arms over the rail. "Couple buddies of mine showed me this years ago."
"Showed you what?"
Instead of answering right away, Doc gestured to the cow nearest them. "That one. She's about asleep."
When Mater didn't react he finally looked back at him. "You've heard of cow tipping..."
"Well yeah, but I didn' think it actually worked..."
"Not always." Doc shrugged. "But I have seen it."
Mater hesitated before stepping forward and climbing the wooden fence. "What do I gotta do."
"Well be quiet for one..." He choked back a laugh when Mater looked at him in earnest, taking the comment seriously and expecting him to explain further as he remained completely silent. "You gotta surprise 'em. They know you're there they'll just walk away."
Mater nodded seriously, creeping across the short space of pasture between himself and the calf. He jumped forward but only startled the calf, who balked and sidestepped away from him. He huffed and looked over his shoulder.
"I never said I've done it, I've only seen it."
For close to half an hour Mater attempted to perfect his attempts in actually managing to tip a cow until finally giving up and climbing the fence once again. "It's no use."
"Not at this rate, you've got them all wound up. It'll have to wait."
Mater only huffed as he got back in the car. At least it gave him something to look forward to tomorrow night though. "Do you think maybe Sheriff would-"
"No...no no no...no no...no...Sheriff doesn't need to be made aware of this."
Mater's eyes widened, as if he'd been let in on the world's biggest secret. Sheriff knew everything. If he could just keep this under wraps then... "Is this like smashin' mail boxes then?"
Doc laughed in surprise as they started back toward town. "Yeah, Mater. Like smashin' mailboxes..."