Cole won't talk to Barb because she spent his childhood abusing him and dating multiple men, never saying which one was his father. She never visited him and she lied to him constantly.
I think that Chris just wants Cole to talk to hee so he doesn't have to hear her bitch about Snyder, Megan, and the evil kuerig company.
She spent her whole life doing what she wanted and pushed people away. She didn't want Cole, so she just hung out with other men. When Chris was a baby she wanted to party with Bob so she left him with evil babysitter. Ten years ago she made spaghetti and nobody ate it so she thew a fit and never cooked for her family again.
But she has Chris, Oedipus complex in action, she raised hee special child to be for life. When he grew his hair long and dressed like , she thought that he was going to turn gay and, as Chris said, kill her, so she made him sit sown and cut his hair to look like a toddler.
To sum it up, she created this mess herself. The scabies that feed on her deserve better.