break not working like before I touched them

That little lever isn't really for adjustment, It should be all the way down.

If your brakes were working fine before, it sounds like the brake is off center now (may have moved when you took off the wheel). Put the lever all the way down and then grab the whole brake and see if you can move it so that there is equal space between the pads and the rims on BOTH sides.

You may also want to check the cable make sure it's not caugh anywhere. Just follow it down from the brake lever and make sure it's good.

HTH

As 'merlin' wrote:  The small lever is just to remove the wheel.  It's either all the way down (riding) or all the way up (removing the wheel).  There is no halfway.  Does the wheel freely spin?  If not, check your wheel setting in the dropouts or your pad position - the pads may be snagging on the tire and not solely on the rim.  You may have banged the brakes pulling out the wheel.  Check your spring bar inside the brake levers that they're both attached.  It should want to pull apart with some good force.  Check your cable:  Release the small lever and with your fingers, squeeze the brake pads to the rim.  This will loosen up the cable.  Unclip the cable from the brake lever (ah!  This is where a handy tool called a brake third hand really helps!)  Now you can check the cable inside the housing to see if the action is smooth and as it should be.

Hope this helps.

thanks for the info.  I'll try it out tonight.  The comment about following the cable from end to end to make sure it's not snagged on anything just made me realize what it probably is.  I had it on a bike wall mount and it's most likely preventing the cable from sliding back.

Glad to know what that lever is supposed to be used for.

Thanks!