"Please don't hang up," Red begged, before the recipient on the other end of the telephone even had a chance to say hello. It was the first time in several weeks that her son's phone hadn't gone straight to voicemail and she was panicking he'd disconnect before she even got a word in. The sight of Vasily's retreating back after he stormed away from their horrible, and only, visit in nearly a year still caused her extreme anguish.

"I wasn't going to," was the reply. "If I wasn't going to listen then I wouldn't have answered. I know it's you."

"Lida?" Red asked.

"Yes," her daughter-in-law replied, and Red sighed. She was desperate to speak with her son and now had a mental picture of Vasily tossing his phone at his wife and asking her to get rid of his mother for him. All of the things she'd wanted to say suddenly vanished from her mind and she felt like she was struck dumb.

"Umm," she mumbled, trying to summon something coherent into her head.

"You don't have to leave him so many voicemails," Lida said. "He's gotten them, he'll reach out to you in his own time. You're really putting him on edge with all of that."

"I just want to talk to him," Red said sadly.

"He's not ready yet," Lida told her gently, but firmly.

Red sniffled loudly. Her eyes were flooding with tears and she felt a little subdued by her daughter-in-law's seamless evelovement into the new family matriarch, in Red's place. The way Lida spoke, made Red feel slightly encouraged that her family was well taken care of. Though mostly she just felt a resounding sense of loss. Of all she was missing out on. Of all the time she could never get back.

"You aren't coping very well, are you?" Lida said sympathetically. It was more of a statement than a question and Red could do nothing but agree to it.

"No," Red said.

"You're calling his phone when you're angry, crying, not making sense," Lida said calmly. "Taking out your frustration on him about what his father or some bitches in prison have done. Vasily's not in control of any of that, honey. You're not being fair to him."

Red nodded her head, as though Lida could see her. Tears were soaking her cheeks and a whimper escaped from her parted lips, that could be heard through the phone. Lida sighed.

"I am so sorry that this happened to you," she said, and Red sniffled. "You know that's why Vasily's fuse is so short these days, huh? Your sons are devastated for you, and for themselves. They thought you were coming home."

"I want to come home," Red said desperately, as if willing it into existence as hard as she could might make the ten years fly by.

"I know," Lida replied.

Red gripped the phone a little bit more tightly. The receiver was slippery with the dampness of her tears as she held it up to her ear. Her shoulders were shaking and her lips were quivering. Staticky sounds echoed into the phone from the panting of her breath and her sniffly nose, as she let go. It was just a relief to have someone in her ear right now who was familiar and who hadn't hurt her, who was a link to her son.

"Please don't hang up," she whimpered.

"I'm here," Lida answered quietly.

Red leaned her head against the concrete wall and held onto the phone like a lifeline. It was such a relief that nobody was waiting behind her to make a call. She didn't think she could have passed it off right now for anything. The cry she was having, the understanding ear on the phone, Red was so desperate for a connection that she didn't care how she came across or who heard.

"They all threw me under the bus," Red said bitterly, a few minutes later when she'd gotten control of her emotions a little better. "Everyone that I cared about and looked after."

"People are selfish," Lida said, "and they took advantage of you. They were probably scared for themselves too, I don't know."

"I have to stay in here for ten more years," Red hissed, "because of them. Frieda's taken everything away from me. She gets a comfy bed, fresh food...and she was in here for the rest of her life anyway. And after all of the horrible things she's done why does she even get to have a life anymore...and I want her dead. She deserves to die in the most painful way I can imagine, and I need-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you need to stop that right now," Lida interrupted.

"Do you hear yourself talking?" Lida asked. "In a room with other people and on a phone call that is probably being recorded right now as we speak."

"I don't care about anything anymore," Red replied.

"Well, I don't really believe you," Lida said. "I thought you wanted to repair your relationship with your sons?

"I care about that," Red corrected.

"Yet, you make it impossible for them to even get through a conversation with you before you start with this nonsense," Lida said.

"You told Vasily you wanted to meet the children," she continued.

"I do," Red whispered.

"But you can't meet my kids behaving the way that you are now, Galina. You'll scare them," Lida said sternly.

Red reached up an arm to brace herself against the wall a little tighter. She turned her head just in time to see Alex and Piper walking by together and even though it proved her daughter-in-law's point, Red felt a burning of anger in her chest at the sight of them. She was so busy watching their progress, the way that they laughed together, and acted like they didn't have a care in the world, that she tuned out what Lida was saying to her.

"Are you still there?" Lida broke into her trace. "What do you think?"

"About what?" Red asked.

Lida sighed heavily. "That's there's no shame in taking something that could help you," she said carefully. "If it were me, I'd take anything I could get."

"Like a sedative?" Red asked in disbelief. "I'm not crazy."

"But you're being put through things that I don't think you, or anyone for that matter, can endure all alone," Lida replied. "It might give you some relief. Maybe Vasily could even make a call?"

"I don't need that," Red said quickly.

"Okay," Lida said simply. "Well, then you're going to stop calling Vasily every day and give him the same space that he gave you. Forgive me for saying it, but you've got ten long years which is a whole lot of time to talk things out with your sons. Don't rush them."

"I just want my family back," Red insisted.

"Your family never left you," Lida reminded her. "So, focus on that and don't let your anger at any of the women in there cost you more than what you've already lost. They aren't worth it and you're only hurting yourself."